PUNE: Apart from picking up the nuances of filmmaking, students at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) will now be able to flex their muscles as well, thanks to a modern gymnasium on the campus.
Anil Shirole, the Lok Sabha MP from Pune, inaugurated the gym in the FTII residential colony on Monday. Spread over 3,000sqft, it has basic and advanced equipments.

The gym will not be for the exclusive use of FTII students. Staff members and faculty as well as their families will be able to use the gym free of cost. The gym will remain open for four hours in the morning and as many hours in the evening.

Complimenting FTII for creating the infrastructure, Shirole said, “FTII students are creative, but fertile minds need fit bodies. I’m glad that the authorities thought of setting up this gym with new equipment within the institute.”

“For want of a proper gym, FTII students were at a disadvantage. As the institute is located in a tony area, students have to spend a fortune for using gyms in the neighbourhood. Given their rigorous academic schedules, students anyway had less time to go to a gym outside the campus. The new facility is therefore a welcome addition,” said Bhupendra Kainthola, director FTII.

Amit Pisal (30), body builder and trainer with more than 15 titles in bodybuilding, has been engaged by FTII as gym instructor-cum-trainer. He has won titles such as Puneshree, Junior Maharashtra Shree and Nandu Maratha Shree.