The Institute has indeed come a long way from its humble beginnings. The Government of India purchased the land where the well-known Prabhat film company made films such as 18Kunku 19, 18 Manoos 19 , 19 Shejari 19 etc. when it was offered for sale and established the Film Institute in the year 1960.

Today, the studios from the Prabhat era still continue to be in use by the students for their various exercises. These studios have been declared heritage sites by the Pune Municipal Corporation.

During 1974, the scope of the Institute was enlarged to include the then rapidly developing field of television.

The Television Wing, earlier located at the Mandi House, New Delhi, shifted to the Institute campus at Pune during the early seventies so as to bring together training in film and television under a common roof, thereby justifying the name of the Institute 13 the Film and Television Institute of India. This wing of the institute has been primarily concerned with conducting in-service training to personnel from Doordarshan.