Will Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods shut down?

There’s some skirmish between the government and Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods and the director plans to appeal to the Supreme Court

Showman Subhash Ghai seems to be going through a rough patch; not only are his films tanking at the BO, he now has deal with legal hassles that his film school Whistling Woods International has been dragged into. A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Girish Godbole said, “In the interest of justice, we direct respondent number 3 and 4 (Ghai and Whistling Woods) to vacate 14.5 acre area immediately which shall be resumed by the state government. The remaining 5.5 acre where the institute is constructed shall be taken over by the government on July 31, 2014 by when all the ongoing courses at the film institute shall be completed.” This implies that Ghai will have to put a full stop to his dream project, his film school, over the next two years.

Ghai plans to challenge the order in the Supreme Court. He said in an official statement by his company Mukta Arts, “I am a filmmaker and committed to education of the next generation. I have acted in good faith and in the interest of education at large. I have faith in the judicial system and I am confident that I will get justice in the Supreme Court. Whistling Woods is supported by the entire film and media industry and is appreciated globally as well. I will continue to fight for what I believe is right for the next generation of the Indian media & entertainment industry.”
The statement also said, “In 2000, Whistling Woods International – Institute for Film Communication Animation and Media Arts, Mumbai was established through a joint venture between Mukta Arts Limited and Filmcity Mumbai, under which Filmcity was supposed to bring in 20 acres of land as its share of the equity and Mukta Arts was to bring in cash resources towards setup of a Film & Media Institute.”
The film school has earned a good name, especially among the rich and famous and is endorsed the world over. We hope that the matter is sorted amicably and that Ghai can focus on making better films.

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