SOLAH SAAL PAHELE , GOREGAAON KE JUNGALO KE BEECH SUBHASH GHAI NE APNAA KHWAB PURAA KIYAA THA - NAAM THAA WHISTLING WOODS INTERNATIONAL

A young man called Subhash Ghai had passed out of the FTII with a gold medal in acting and had come to Bombay in chase of his favourite dreams - Ali Peter John

He however couldnt really succeed as an actor, but went on to be one of the leading filmmakers of the country.

The young man who wanted to be a star had some of the biggest stars waiting for a chance to work with him as their director .

He made one successful film after another and was declared " the new showman (no one however big or great has been able to compete with the greatest ever showman, Raj Kapoor) Subhash Ghai was a name synonymous with success of the kind very few filmmakers had and he kept growing from success to greater success , except for a few failures .

He had reached a new high creatively and financially. It was a very difficult crossroad for him .

He could invest all his money in some other industry or business , but he decided to build a film school in Mumbai. His ambition was backed up by Dilip Kumar.

He was lucky to find a huge piece of land in the midst of the Film City in Goregaaon . It took him some years to build his dream school and it was inaugurated by Dilip Kumar and many other celebrities from film world and other fields of life attended the inauguration.

It was a dream that took its time to take shape and when it finally did , it stood out like a diamond in a jungle .

The school was named Whistling Woods International and Ghai dedicated most of his time to give his school the touches of a master like he was in the field of making films.

He was joined by his daughter , Meghna Ghai Puri who graduated to be the President of WWI .

The school which started with just a few students today has more than 1500 students in different fields of filmmaking like direction , writing , communication, designing and many other branches of film education.

WWI has also joined hands with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and other major institutions and issues degrees in various subjects.

WWI was making rapid and really good progress in the 90's when it faced a major legal crisis and anyone in the showman Ghai's place would have thrown his hands up in despair , but Ghai with the inspiration and support of his wife Rehana (Mukta) , Meghna, her husband Rahul Puri and his many admirers kept the school going, without letting the academic progress being hampered .

He was stuck between making films and establishing his school , but he managed to come out of his legal crisis and was back to taking all the interest in everything that formed a part of his dreams by day and night.

One has to visit WWI just once to know how one man's dream and passion to see it come true .

One has to only see the massive complex to know how the mind of that young man from Delhi works .

I have been a witness to the growth of WWI from the day the foundation stone was laid and now when l look back , l wonder what more wonders Subhash Ghai has in mind.

And with a daughter like Meghna who not only shares her father's passion , but stands by him at all times , good or not so good and with the inspiration of Rehana (Mukta) l dont have to be sure , l know that WWI which is now ranked among the 10 best film schools in the world will race ahead and be the best in the world. Some dreams really come true and how !

AAP HINDI FILM JAGAT KAA EK GEHNA HO , SUBHASH JI . AAP MEIN WOH JAADOO HAI JO BADI SI BADI MUSHKILO KO PAAR KAR KE KAAMIYAAB HOTE HAIN . ABHI TOH SIRF 15 SAAL HO GAYE HAI .

AAPKO AUR AAPKE TEAM KO AUR KAHI EVEREST DHOOND RAHE HAI UNNKO JEETNE KE LIYE.