Wisdom of the woods

CINEMA: Film director Subhash Ghai on his new film institute in Mumbai's Film City.

Seated in a comfortable BMW heading for the airport in New Delhi, film director and producer Subhash Ghai speaks candidly about his Rs 50-crore venture Whistling Woods, a film institute that will throw open its doors in July this year.

"It has been a 20-year-old dream," says Ghai, adjusting the Armani sunglasses. Initially, the filmmaker was keen to find commercial space in Haryana, but settled eventually on a sprawling 20-acre strip of land in the heart of the Film City that was designed by architect Atul Desai.

"Mukta Arts has invested money in this project," he says, referring the market-listed studio he started, "and it will take just three-four years to break even."

But why another film institute? "... to teach the nuances of filmmaking", reponds Ghai.

"Actors, directors, writers, all learn by making colossal mistakes and delivering at least eight to 10 flops before they can call themselves stars," says Ghai. "If each film", he adds, "costs Rs 10 crore, then Rs 100 crore has been wasted."

That is why, claims Ghai, his institute will make all the difference "" and offer a "structured growth plan to those who want to be a part of the film industry".

The growth plan comes at a steep price, what with Rs 10-12 lakh being charged for a course at the film school. Whistling Woods does have quite a range of courses to choose from, though, including some rather special ones.

Its courses in the art and technique of animation and production design, for example, "are not offered anywhere else in the world" according to Ghai.

And Ghai has done his homework. The filmmaker visited 42 film institutes and universities all over the world, and designed the curriculum for Whistling Woods by consulting several of these.

Graduating students will be given a diploma, and though Ghai hasn't officially announced it, the school will be affiliated to the American Film Institute. What's more, Mukta Arts will give "priority to Whistling Woods' students", he assures, when it comes to signing on fresh talent.

The expense of a Whistling Woods education doesn't seem to have deterred applicants, who have sent in forms from all over the world ("from Chicago to the interiors of Punjab", as Ghai puts it). In the first semester, only 125 applications will be entertained.

But there's also a second semester, for which a similar number of new applications will be admitted. Given the director's cinema record (and his box office megahits, most of which curiously appeared before he started Mukta Arts), the interest in the project is understandable.

But would the school be just another depersonalised set up? Or would he make an idiosyncratic black-hat appearance "" like in so many of his films "" in person too?