Several members of the Indian film community and alumni of the Film and Television Institute of India returned their national awards on Wednesday, showing solidarity with the students who are battling the institute's management, and protesting against the atmosphere of communalism in the country. Among them are filmmakers Anand Patwardhan, Dibakar Banerjee, and Rakesh Sharma, Times Now reported.

Earlier in the day, students at the institute had called off their four-month-long strike, saying they would resume their classes but “continue their battle against the forces of fascism”. Their strike had raised questions about the controversial appointment of actor and Bharatiya Janata Party worker Gajendra Chauhan as the chairperson of the FTII, whom they claimed lacked the stature to head the country's premier film school.

Chauhan told India Today that he could "only appeal to the filmmakers to take back their awards".