THE JOURNEY FROM BEING STUDENTS TO AWARD-WINNING CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS – WHISTLING WOODS INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI REVISIT THE CAMPUS WITH THEIR CELEBRATED FILM, HUM DO HAMARE DO

~ WWI hosted the team of the film including alumni and multi-faceted actress, Ratna Pathak Shah for an exclusive masterclass for the students ~

December 08, 2021, Mumbai: It was a moment of pride and excitement for Whistling Woods International (WWI), Asia’s premier institute of film, communication & creative arts, to host the cast & crew of the celebrated movie, Hum Do Hamare Do, primarily constituting of the alumni of the institute, for an exclusive masterclass session. The team in attendance consisted of alumni Abhishek Jain, Director & Writer; Amey Deo, Associate Director; Amit Desai, Associate Producer; Shraddha Thorat, Production Team, Sohel Sanwari, Sound Editor along with renowned actress, Ratna Pathak Shah. The hybrid session was moderated by Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Vice President & CTO, WWI.

The insightful session witnessed each panelist sharing their experiences working on the film. Marking his Hindi film debut with this film, Abhishek Jain revealed he had initially planned it to be a Gujarati film. “The script was originally written as a Gujarati film, set in Baroda. The idea for this film originated in 2017. Being the first Hindi film there was a constant anxiousness associated with it. I just wanted to make a warm, heartfelt family story and with the experience of good actors and the remaining crew, we could create one”, shared Abhishek Jain.

As the discussion progressed, multi-faceted actress, Ratna Pathak Shah spoke about the importance of a strong relationship between actors & director. “We should be aiming for actors and directors to work together to understand the requirement of the film, in order to manage to create something beautiful”, she said.

Through the course of the discussion, other alumni also shared insightful details with the students attending the session. Amit Desai shared that Hum Do Hamare Do was a great learning experience as it marked a transition for him from regional to commercial movies. Amey Deo shared how the pandemic turned into a boon in disguise, enabling them to improvise basis the situation, encouraging their creativity to thrive during constraint times. While Sohel Sanwari shed light on the difficulties faced in recreating the ambience of Shimla in Mumbai, Shraddha Thorat shared her learnings including handling crisis patiently.

As the session was concluding, the floor was opened to the future aspirants who posted their set of questions to the esteemed panelists. Responding on how he dealt with various opinions or questions, Abhishek Jain said, “As a director, you can make a choice whether to listen to different viewpoints shared and let the team continue contributing it or you can state how you want things to be like.”
The masterclass session ended with a round of thunderous applause as the students expressed their gratitude for the major takeaways shared by the alumni and guest.