Always wanting to explore different avenues, management, marketing and business appealed to her more than film-making. But then there was legacy to uphold. As daughter of Subhash Ghai, Meghana knew she was expected to follow industry norms. But she chose to run her father's film school instead. Over coffee at CP, Meghana Ghai Puri gets candid with Jigyasu Joshi
Being the daughter of Bollywood’s big banner showman, who entertained us with blockbusters like Ram lakhan, Karz and Khalnayak, Meghana Ghai Puri was neither interested in acting, script-writing or making a film. However, a trained marketing and communication professional that she was, she assisted father Subhash Ghai, in some of his projects. Staying clear off mainstream cinema, she accepted that Bollywood was in her blood and she could not change its DNA. So when Subhash Ghai rolled out his dream project of setting up a film school, which involved an allied aspect of nurturing talent rather than chasing them, he asked Meghana to take charge of it. And, 14 years now, she is happy about making her father’s dream successful.
“It is a stereotype that a doctor’s child must want to be a doctor or a filmmaker’s child is keen on prospering under a known family umbrella. I was never conditioned like this. Also, I hardly saw my father when I was young. A passionate filmmaker, he had so much to do all the time. Seeing him so engrossed, I diverted myself from this path since the beginning”, said Meghana.
Always wanting to explore different avenues, she thought of taking up management, marketing and business. “I’m not a creative person honestly. Plus I don’t know acting. So there was no chance that I would have done acting ever. Apart from that, someone should be there to back the business too”, she chuckled.
Carving a niche of her own, she gave life to her father’s dream project, Whistling Woods International Film School. “When dad first came to Mumbai, he saw that there was no place for a struggling artist where he/she could learn skills and compete in a dog-eat-dog world. People had shut doors on him too before he struck gold. So he decided that the day he was settled enough, he would set up a school to groom talent and customise them for the industry. WWI is just the culmination of the long dream that he had”, shared Meghana. “And, I’m just doing my bit to fulfill his dream”, she added.
Talking about how regular parents are now becoming aware about film-making as a serious career option, Meghana said, “It took us some time initially to make parents believe that film-making can be a career option too. There was a misconception that it was a glorified acting school. So we decided to have these awareness workshops by setting up stalls at education and placement exhibitions. Now people know that there are highly skilled areas like cinematography, editing and direction, which are creative, challenging and rewarding at the same time. Slowly and gradually, we saw the change in parental perception about the film industry. Now parents come up to us with their kids, saying they are passionate about film-making and, therefore, want to learn about the discipline. It is heartening to see that.”
From a shy young girl who was inspired by Forrest Gump when she was leaving home to study at a boarding school in london, Meghana has come a long way. Sharing her thoughts about the mixed bag, sometimes confused status of Hindi films, she said, “There is always bad cinema and there is always good cinema. Just when we curse the industry for churning out nonsensical movies, something like Pink comes up. So it is never really all bad.” She believes that bad cinema was made earlier, too, but today people just talk about how golden that era was. “Similarly, 20 years down the line, we will be talking about how great the movies are today. Nostalgia always gives you a comforting glow. But a classic will always shine through”, she added.
Being a woman professional herself, she accepts that there are very few women across the industry compared to men. “We see the women excelling in different fields but somehow in Bollywood, they are limited to acting or editing. At our school, we work hard towards correcting sectoral imbalance and over the last 10 years, we have successfully brought the women to men ratio to 50 per cent, especially in managerial and entrepreneurial roles”, Meghana said.
Apart from being an Indian cinema lover, she enjoys watching short series over the internet on her phone. “I love watching small series over the internet on my phone. Mainly because it doesn’t require a timeout from the busy lives that we live. I can watch while travelling. I like watching stuff on Netflix. All this technological evolution has helped me keep myself updated”, she said.
So how does she unwind on a weekendIJ “I have two kids and playing with them destresses me after work. Apart from that, I love to cook and bake.” A star kid on a different trek.