Whistling Woods gets words of support

Film industry, corporate honchos write to President, PM

In a show of solidarity to filmmaker Subash Ghai and his controversial film institute, representatives from the industry and the corporate world have dashed off letters to the President, the prime minister, the human resource development minister and the chief minister. The letters are a request to the leaders of the Union and state governments to intervene and stop Whistling Woods International from being shut down. "I am reflecting the sentiment of the film industry in India and the student community when I appeal to you to seriously consider a solution that will not force the institution to shut down and clear out as the present judgements of the courts have demanded," said filmmaker Shyam Benegal in his letter to Pratibha Patil and Prithviraj Chavan. "Surely there is a solution that is not so drastic that it prevents Indian students from getting what is probably the best cinema education in our country," he added. In another letter addressed to Manmohan Singh, Kapil Sibal, Patil and Chavan, industrialist Anand Mahindra has recommended that "an executive solution" should be reached within the framework of the law where Whistling Woods International continues to exist within Film City in Goregaon. "Any investment, especially in education like Subhash Ghai has made, cannot be dismissed without severe consequences to the stakeholders, the industry and the country as a whole," he added. Mahindra is the chairman of the governing council of the film institute. The state government has possessed 14.5 acres of vacant land around the institute on which Ghai had plans to construct a film development centre and a hostel for outsation students. The filmmaker will have to hand over the rest of the 5.5 acres, on which Whistling Woods is located, in the next two years.

Photo Caption(s):The state took over 14.5 acres around Goregaon’s Whistling Woods on Tuesday