For students of Whistling Woods International (WWI) in Mumbai, there is a lot of action that awaits in this installment of Cinema 100, the next wave starting today. From workshops relating to film-making to panel discussions by celebrities from all walks of life, this fun-filled festival is going to be one of its kind.
“last year’s response was overwhelming. The students got to learn a lot from all that was discussed. This year we have done many new things with the modules. We are screening Bombay Talkies as a tribute to the film industry,” Meghna Ghai Puri, the president of WWI, tells you.
Bollywood showman Subhash Ghai’s daughter Meghna Ghai-Puri was recently honoured with for media education. As the president of this Rs70 crore film, television and media arts institute, Puri is wanting to expand the WWI branches to Delhi and Haryana.
It was Subhash Ghai’s dream of starting a school and so Whistling Woods International was born. He shared this dream with Meghna while she was pursuing a course in london. “We have always wanted to give the best to our students. Through special festivals such as this, we are giving them the exposure to mingle with renowned artists in the industry. This is like an on-job training,” Puri says.
The full-time faculty of Whistling Woods International is a body of academics and industry professionals with regular guest lectures by leading Indian and International filmmakers, actors and technicians like Rakeysh Mehra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Farhan Akhtar, Ashok Amritraj, Shyam Benegal, Farah Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Ratna Pathak Shah, Danny Boyle, Rajkumar Hirani, Nagesh Kukunoor and others.