Subhash Ghai’s long-cherished dream has finally come true. During the days when he was filming Saudagar with Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar in the leading roles I used to listen to him describing the dream he had of creating an institution for film studies when Dilip Saab, Raaj Kumar and other members of the stellar cast got together in the evening for a cosy chat with rounds of hot tea and sandwiches after the day’s pack-up. The shooting stretched for days together at Mahabaleshwar and Subhash, the lavish producer that he is, had booked every good hotel in the hill station to accommodate his film’s unit members and stars. It was winter and the clouds would hang obstinately over the hills all afternoon sometimes blocking the daylight required for the camera work and at such times we just sat on the grass ant talked about cinema and cinema and cinema.

There were stars in Subhash’s eyes whenver he talked about his dream of setting up a world class institute for training actors, directors, editors, cinematographer, writers. It amused Raaj Kumar no end whenever Subhash spoke about the need for training actors. Nobody trained him and nobody trained Dilip Kumar, he invariable held forth.

Obviously Subhash has been working quietly and diligently on the realization of his dream. He has just declared open his cinema school Whistling Woods International at the Film City in Mumbai. Situated in the more picturesque side of the Film City, it is built over 150,000 sq. ft. of land an doffers specialization in all disciplines related to filmmaking and an intensive course in the business of filmmaking so essential for film professionals.

The fees are not all affordable (Rs. 3,50,000 to Rs. 5,50,000) but the prospectus says that bank loans are available for selected applicants.

The majority of aspirants who arrive in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, come with just a few hundred rupees in their pockets and a thousand rainbows in their horizons. They can neither turn to Whistling Woods nor Anupam Kher’s school which are for those who have the resources or at least the capacity to pay the EMIs. In is foreword, Subhash Ghai explains why he went all out to set-up Whistling Woods. He says that in the ever advancing scenario of the entertainment industry, it has become imperative for parents, whose sons and daughters have aspirations to enter the cinema or television industry, to understand that specialized education in their chosen field is as important as it is in medicine, engineering, IT or business management.

Every course in the Whistling Woods curriculum, he promises, has been designed to maximize the potential of the students and give them the best skills possible.

His governing council has celebrities like Anand Mahindra, Aroon Purie and Kiran Karnik while his Advisory Board has Deepak Chopra, Sandy Climan, Dilip Kumar, Kamlesh Pandey, Jabbar Patel, Karan Johar, Mahesh Bhatt, Nagesh Kukunoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Ramesh Sippy, Shah Rukh Khan and Shabana Azmi among others.

This ambitious enterprise has taken nearly six years to take full shape and materialize. It will no doubt produce professionals who will shine in the industry in much the same way that Subhash and other FTII diploma holders like Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Bhaduri and Shabana Azmi have done. Alongside, there will also be untrained and unexpected success stories adding that touch of magic to Indian cinema and its discipline.

In the entire package offered by Whistling Woods, the most interesting and useful course is the specialized course in the art and technique of animation filmmaking offered by the Seneca College of Canada which has earned consideration reputation in the last couple of years.