Bollywood Trade News Network

Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods commenced it 2nd batch for its 2 yr full time program on 9th January 2007 with guest lectures by Rajkumar Hirani and Syd Field, internationally-acclaimed screenwriting guru.

Rajkumar Hirani spent 4 hours guest lecturing at WWI. He first interacted in a detailed session with the Direction, Editing, Screenwriting & Cinematography students of the 1st batch and followed up by a general interaction with all the students and faculty in the Pelicula Auditorium.

The students’ questions ranged on topics like which of his personal experiences he managed to use in creation of ‘MUNNABHAI’, his methodology of experimenting with the script & screenplay to achieve the desired result of ‘touching’ the audience, his technique of dealing with the performance styles of the different actors he has interacted with. He also elaborated on his experiences during his film training days and how they impacted his career in the years to come.

Accompanying him was Mr. Murlidhar (the cinematographer of LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI) who gave an extremely detailed technical analysis of the lighting, shooting and logistics involved in the song “Samjho ho hi gaya” and how it was shot on a single street inside Mukesh Mills, and how they converted the street into a typical on-road marriage decoration and even a circus.

After an exhaustive tour of the WWI, campus, Rajkumar Hirani quoted “I wish I was born late. This is the place I would have studied. A technically up-to-date fantastic environment - so conducive to studying”

On January 15, 2006, Syd Field visited WWI for a tour and an informal interaction with media in general and screenwriting in particular with all the students and faculty in the Pelicula Auditorium at WWI.

The students questions ranged on topics like the importance of the basic 3-act structure in writing for movies, the best way to start writing stories – both from a concept and from character-based writing. Syd field also discussed in detail the story, script & screenwriting of RANG DE BASANTI and why it has appealed the way it has to all audiences of all age groups all over the world. He also mentioned that it was largely the writing that has led to the film being nominated under the ‘Best Foreign Film’ category for the BAFTA awards.

He further gave tips to students who were interested in knowing what the best way of breaking into the ‘Hollywood’ screenwriting industry was.

After a detailed campus tour of the WWI which included him planting a sapling on the institute grounds, Syd Field quoted “What an extraordinary experience to be in this school. A great step towards the future of Indian Cinema”.