Film and theatre actor Jijoy P R has been appointed the director of the K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts (KRNNIVSA) in Kerala's Kottayam district.
Jijoy, who has acted in 55 films and 40 plays, is at present an associate professor in the department of acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.
He is also the dean-in-charge of the Department of Cinema at FTII.
Jijoy comes to the K R Narayanan institute four months after its previous director Shankar Mohan was forced to resign following an intense students protest.
Veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who took a firm stance in favour of Mohan, also quit as the chairman of the institute afterwards. The Kerala government then appointed Saeed Mirza as the chairman of the institute.
Kerala's minister for higher education R Bindu on Saturday said Jijoy's appointment following Mirza's is aimed at elevating the K R Narayanan institute to the top of the film schools in the country.
"Jijoy has conducted acting workshops within India and West Asian countries. With his experience at the international level, he will be an asset to the institute," the minister said in a statement.
Jijoy graduated in Theatre Arts from the School of Drama and Fine Arts at the University of Calicut. He holds a Master's and MPhil in Drama and Theatre Arts from Pondicherry University.
Apart from feature films and theatre productions, he has also acted in 25 short films and 10 serials. As an actor, he has attended 400 international theatre festivals in four continents.
Jijoy has been a faculty member at the FTII since 2014. He has received a Junior Fellowship from the Union Ministry of Culture and a Young Artist Scholarship from the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.
