Faculty

Subhash Ghai

Founder & Chairman

Mr. Subhash Ghai is a globally renowned filmmaker having directed 18 films over a four decade career, with 14 of them being blockbusters. Recipient of many national and international awards, he has also been honoured by the United States Senate. He has been appointed as the Chairman of Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC). He was also the former Chairman of the Entertainment Committee of the trade body, CII and a member of FICCI, NASSCOM and TIE Global and its alliances. He has been invited to address various forums and seminars on corporate governance and the growth of the Media & Entertainment industry, globally and in India. He is presently serving as the Chairman of Media & Entertainment Skills Council (MESC).

Anita Naidu

Adjunct Faculty

Anita is a seasoned media professional and worked in the media industry for more than 20 years, she brings with her an all-round perspective of Radio Management, Digital and TV in the Broadcast Segment right from radio-jockeying, content-writing, creative services, business, production, branding, marketing & PR.

Anita started training hosts and producers on AIR-Bangalore in the early years, went on to join the Times Group’s Radio Mirchi for nearly 10 years, set up Radio One’s International format radio station and was with them for 9 years as the Programming Head and Radio Host for various shows. Currently she designs and delivers workshops on communication, content and conducts Masterclasses in leading professional talent institutes in India, from Wilson College to Whistling Woods International (Mumbai).

Anita is armed with a bachelor’s degree in science (maths, physics, electronics) and a masters in English Literature. It was her love for reading and literature that earned her an MPhil in English Literature. She loves creating workshops and training programs in Radio, Education, Communication, and Literature and regularly conducts Public Speaking and Podcasting workshops for children and young adults. Anita was nominated by the US Embassy for the prestigious IVLP International Visitors Leadership Program to the USA to speak and communicate on the Relevance of Media making a Social Change in our lives today.

She was on the panel for Mount Holyoke College Shakti Leadership Program on STEM education for children, its importance in life and various fields of education. She has also worked with UNICEF’s & Teach for India’s education programs.

Anita recently was featured in the book Let’s Talk on Air – Conversations with Radio Presenters by Rakesh Anand Bakshi, an insight into the lives of 14 eminent radio presenters from across India, its their stories and challenges and Anita was an integral part of the book by means of contributing and guiding on radio and publishing.

Anita’s passion for reading and books leaves no stone unturned, she has curated the LITERATI for High Street Phoenix (Mumbai) which gives a stage to authors publishers, writers etc. From Book Launches to Flag Ship writing workshops, from book readings to Storytelling with Crossword and Penguin and various literature festivals for kids, it’s all here part of her repertoire.

She’s interviewed many an author from Sudha Murty to Ruskin Bond, Ashwin Sanghi to Ravi Subramaniam, Christopher Paolini to Jeff Kinney. Anita presently is a consultant training head with G Corp Media for their corporate communication programs – Communicate Right, Public Speaking and Voice Coaching workshops for kids, adults, and corporates.

Anita is your true media professional, where music and literature is her soul, give her a radio, a cup of tea and a book, that’s enough to make her day, while her passion is to teach and train in the field of radio and communication, she loves to travel, discover cultures, and talk, she believes, “lets speak to influence, influence to make a change.” If you can’t find Anita reading a book or telling a story, rest assured she’s interviewing an author or interesting people with a story.

She believes everyone has a story to tell, let’s tell it well!

Deepak Choudhary

Chief Mentor

Mr. Deepak Choudhary, an entrepreneur, has seen the changing face of the events industry and has been an intrinsic part of the overhaul in the span of 16 years. After pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in management from IIPS Indore and a Master’s in Management from IES Management College Mumbai, he started carving a niche for himself in the events industry. With his educational institute venture, publications and event IPs he has successfully diversified business opportunities for flourishing start-ups and created bankable LIVE event IPs across genres.

He co-founded one of India’s first Event Management school in the year 2002 and then went on to collaborate with Roshan Abbas for India’s first-ever Radio Management School. He also joined hands with cricketer Nilesh Kulkarni for India’s first Sports Management School. Divesting his stakes in the education business, he decided to pursue a higher ground and involve himself in a bigger way in the event management business.

In 2007, he co-founded EVENTFAQS, India’s first B2B business portal/publication for the events industry. Over time, EVENTFAQS has branched out in various IPs and publications in the event space, WOW Awards being the biggest of them. In 2013, he went on to establish Event Capital, India’s leading Live Event Intellectual Property rights company with Laqshya Media Group which is India’s leading OOH media company. Over the years, Event Capital has partnered or createdproperties like Bollywood Music Project (Largest Bollywood Music Festival in India), WindMill Festival (India’s only International Kids Festival), Bike Festival of India with MS Dhoni, India Kids Fashion Week (largest kids fashion event), Edutainment Show (festival of design & media education), Big Boys Toys (Men’s lifestyle exhibition), Times Travel show (India’s largest travel B2C Festival with the Times of India), India Bridal Fashion Week (ultimate in bridal) and Indian Festival League. Event Capital now runs the branded IP & content division as well.

In 2016, Deepak also co-authored ‘Staged’ – the first-ever book on the Indian live event Industry.

Hemant Matai

Visiting Faculty

Participated in highly complex projects alongside some of the most brilliant marketing minds in over 15+ years of my career. My previous key roles have allowed me to work as Head Marketing & Client Relationship for Procam International (India’s oldest Sports Marketing & Management firm), Marketing Manager with Reliance Brands for Diesel, Hamleys, Quiksilver, Timberland, & Super Dry, Event Marketing Specialists for Red Bull India & Programming Producer at STAR India (Disney). Founder of a firm in India called Trinity Entertainment & Strategic Consultants in 2009 (www.trinityentertainment.in) which continues to grow & work with globally renowned brands on a day-to-day basis. Our daily client roster would include Red Bull, Tinder, Abinbev, Pernod Richard, Marriott Group, Linkedin, Volkswagen group (Lamborghini, Porsche, AUDI, Skoda) & Macleran to name a few. Trinity Entertainment & Strategic Consultants (TEASC): is one of India’s leading experiential marketing agencies. Here we combine brand insights and innovation with on-ground expertise. The company’s secret to success is its marketing intelligence across all media platforms coupled with its passion for creating revolutionary experiential marketing ideas that put the brand at the center of strategic thought. We’ve created award winning campaigns for brands that have helped them cut through clutter time & again. In 2019, taking a leap of faith, putting my education & prior work experience to use, we added a content division to our business called Trinity Content labs. Initiating with voluntary ideas of capturing content from our projects with existing roster, we’ve added additional clients for which we finish work that goes on to various platforms namely Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Flipkart, Cred, Pharmeasy ELSA Speak, etc. We help them with a bucket of promotional videos monthly & have a full-fledged team working round the clock to deliver the same. Trinity Content Labs (TCL) – is a creative production house helping in creating content for clients/agencies/production houses with a focus on advertising and marketing. Producing expertise and end to end production and postproduction service to design and develop campaigns, still shoots & videos for products, branding, websites, television (commercial videos, brand videos, and explainers) and digital / OTT platforms.

Khushroo Kekobad

Visiting Faculty

With a background in Hotel Management and an experience of over 2 Decades and more in Event Management Live On-Stage Entertainment Private Limited was born. He started his career in Event Management with Wizcraft Entertainment where he started working with Goblins (Wizcraft’s Birthday Party division) and then gradually got into Production of large-scale Concerts namely the famous Lata Mangeshkar Concert at Andheri Sports Complex, Human Aids Concert on Girgaum Chowpatty Beach, He was also part of the prestigious Michael Jackson Concert in India. At Wizcraft he was also part of a long list of Corporate Events such as 555 series and International Concerts of Shaggy, Noble Savages etc. Later he moved to Cineyug run by the famous Morani’s and Soorma and handled their Fireworks and Pyrotechnics division Morani Fireworks and Morani Fireworks & Sfx executing the biggest of Firework display in India. We also pioneered in producing the first Stage Pyrotechnics (now known as Cold Pyro or Close Proximity Pyrotechnics). Have executed produced and designed Pyrotechnic displays for most of the Event management and Wedding Planning companies in India along with Tv Channels namely Star Tv, Sony Tv, Viacom, Zee Tv, Sab TV, Government Events, Leading Newspapers, Leading Business Houses, Advertising Agencies, Hotels & Airlines, Clubs, Gymkhana’s, Amusement Parks. He was also instrumental in Producing the First ever Rooftop Display in India at the 1st IPL Opening Ceremony through Morani Fireworks & Sfx. With Cineyug He has been part of most of the large-scale events in India in the past 15 years. With Cineyug he was also part of Bollywood Concerts & Film Award Nites such as Filmfare Awards, Zee Cine Awards, Screen Awards, Sansui Awards, Star Parivar Awards, Colors Golden Petal Awards, to Sahara Bharat Parva, National Games. He also coordinated international talents with Cineyug and was instrumental in sourcing and designing the biggest Fire Pyrotechnics performance show for IPL Closing Ceremony in South Africa with 30 professional Fire artists Including Fire Drummers, Stilt Pyro performers from Vienna and 20 Local Fire performers from South Africa. Total of 50 Fire Artists performing together. Since then, there was no looking back. He ventured in the field of International Talent Management by starting his own company Live On-Stage Entertainment Private Limited and started collaboration with Award winning performing artists from around the Globe to create and produce bespoke and live entertainment for Opening and Closing Ceremonies for Sports and Stadium events, Theatrical Arenas, Live Concerts, Weddings, Corporate Events and innovative Product launches. He has also authored THE HEALTH AND SAFETY EVENT HANDBOOK which was launched at Eemagine (biggest gathering of Event managers and Wedding Planners in India) by Mr. Rajiv Kumar (Vice Chairman Niti Aayog) Thanks to EEMA (Event Entertainment Management Association which is the premiere Event Managers Association of India. He is now in the process of structuring an Event Insurance Policy for the Event, Wedding, Exhibition and Media Industry in India.

Raju Hittalamani

Visiting Faculty

Raju Hittalamani has carved a niche in media, communications, film production, and documentary filmmaking. His academic background, which includes an MA in Media and Cultural Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and a Visiting Fellowship in International Relations from Sciences-Po, Paris, provides a sturdy foundation for his practical engagements in cinema. As the co-founder of Kabes Media Private Limited, Raju has been instrumental in bringing film projects with profound global and cultural narratives to the fore. His foray into documentaries has yielded works such as “Breaking Chains”, “Anicca”, and “Kali-Kalisu”, with “Breaking Chains” gaining notable recognition at the LAMPA Retrospective, United Nations, Geneva. Adding to his diverse portfolio, Raju is developing a documentary on the Holocaust.

Over the years, Raju’s professional journey has seen associations with reputable institutions like the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the Public Health Foundation of India, and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. He has collaborated with national and international organizations in these roles, broadening his horizons in program execution, media strategy, research, and content creation. His stint as a Media Lab Director and Fellow at the Cairo Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences was marked by innovative course design and a focus on fostering cultural exchange. Raju’s academic engagements have led him to share insights on film and documentary filmmaking at various platforms, including the United Nations, reflecting his dedication to storytelling and the medium’s potential.

Joining Whistling Woods International, Mumbai, as a visiting faculty in Cultural Studies (for Visual Communication Design,) Raju merges his extensive experience with a deep-rooted passion for the field. His pedagogical approach emphasizes the importance of cultural studies as a tool to comprehend the sources and contexts from which texts, media, and designs originate. Through this understanding, Raju aspires to cultivate a more conscious media practice across varied forms, enhancing the depth and awareness of the content.

Filmmaking

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Visiting Faculty

DIRECTION

Visiting Faculty

EDITING

Visiting Faculty

PRODUCING

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Visiting Faculty

SCREENWRITING

Visiting Faculty

SOUND RECORDING & DESIGN

VFX

VIRTUAL REALITY & VIRTUAL PRODUCTION

CULTURE STUDIES

Media & Communication

Sports & Esports Management

Event Management

Animation & Game Design

Visiting Faculty

Fashion & Costume Design

Visual Communication Design

Actors’ Studio

Music

Filmmaking

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Visiting Faculty

DIRECTION

Visiting Faculty

EDITING

Visiting Faculty

PRODUCING

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Visiting Faculty

SCREENWRITING

Visiting Faculty

SOUND RECORDING & DESIGN

VFX

VIRTUAL REALITY & VIRTUAL PRODUCTION

CULTURE STUDIES

Media & Communication

Sports & Esports Management

Event Management

Animation & Game Design

Visiting Faculty

Fashion & Costume Design

Visual Communication Design

Actors’ Studio

Music

Subhash Ghai

Founder & Chairman

Ravi Gupta

Dean

Rahul Puri

Director – Academics

Ashwini Kaul

Member of ISC (Indian Society of Cinematographers) Head of Department

Chandrashekar Iyer

Krishhnamurthy

Faculty

Manoj Peter

Faculty

Venkatesh Pilla

Faculty

Raman Iyer

Faculty

Abhijit Mazumdar

Head of Department

Paresh Kamdar

Faculty

Sharad Raj

Faculty

Sudipto Acharyya

Faculty

Vedanti Chandrakant Dani

Faculty

Sahil Gada

Faculty

Prashant Naik

Head of Department

Ashif Ahmed

Faculty

Rajesh Parmar

Faculty

Vivian Pimenta

Faculty

Rabiya Nazki

Head of Department

Rahul Puri

Director – Academics

Sumant Abhyankar

Faculty

Anuj Gulati

Faculty

Jasraj Padhye

Visiting Faculty

Sagar Malkar

Visiting Faculty

Sukruth Sudhakar

Visiting Faculty

Vishnu Tenkayala

Visiting Faculty

Vineeja Suresh

Member of ISC (Indian Society of Cinematographers)
Head of Department