‘What’s in a n a m e ’ ,Shakespeare may have said.But, today’s woman no longer wants to be known by her father’s or h u s b a n d ’ s name. They want to branch out and have their own identity. A young woman who has carved out a niche for herself is Bollywood showman Subhash Ghai’s daughter Meghna Ghai-Puri. This young petite lady, a wife and mother recently received the Award for Media Education.

The lady was honoured for providing world class education at Whistling Woods International (WWI), Mumbai. She is the President of the Rs 70-crore films, television and media arts institute and plans to open centres in Delhi,Haryana and Kolkata. Presently, the Mumbai institute has a capacity of around 140 students for its two-year diploma course in film-making with specialisations in direction, editing, cinematography, production, screen writing and sound recording & design. With many keen to don the grease paint and show their creativity in animation as a fall out of Rajnikant-Aishwarya starrer ‘Robot’, WWI also offers an acting course in Actors Studio and another course in Animation and graphics. In association with Manipal University, WWI also offers an MBA in Media & Entertainment.

Meghna feels that there is tremendous growth in the film and entertainment sector as many students are looking for quality education.Earlier, all those who wanted to follow a career in films, would apply to the governmentsponsored Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. One must not forget that Subhash Ghai is a product of FTII so are Jaya Bachchan,Shatrughan Sinha to name a few.It was Subhash Ghai’s dream of starting a schooland so Whistling Woods International was born.He shared this dream with Meghna while she was pursuing a course in London. Earlier, after finishing school, she began assisting her father in Pardes and soon realized that her interests lay in post-production process of a film. To achieve the qualities required, she armed herself with a business management degree and completed a B.Sc Honours from King’s College,London.

 She also worked for an e-tailing media site in London.Talking about making a career related to films, she says that films were not unfamiliar to her.She pays credit to her mother Rehana for her simple upbringing as she was kept far from the filmy background. After finishing school at the Apostolic Carmel Convent, Mumbai, Meghna headed to college at Mary Mount International, London. She says that she has happy memories of her life there as there were different people from different countries. She said that like every kid she too looked to return home to spend the vacations. She yearned to spend more time with her father and for this she didn’t mind even answering the phone. All these have made me what I am today, she said with pride.Speaking about her father, she said that he was a tough task master, which meant the right training. However, she says that her father is a keen teacher. In 2001, for setting up the school, she did a thorough search across the globe visiting schools and studying their curriculum.Remembering her thoughts, Meghna said that initially there were plans for a small building,which changed into a 20 sprawling acre. She said that they did not want space constraint to be a setback in including courses.On the faculty front too, Meghna said that they were not willing to compromise. They roped in great names like Naseeruddin Shah, Kurt Inderbitzen and Manmohan Shetty. Inderbitzen was the dean when the institute began functioning in July 2006.

The full-time faculty of Whistling Woods International is a body of academics and industry professionals with regular guest lectures by leading Indian and International filmmakers,actors and technicians like Rakeysh Mehra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Farhan Akhtar, Ashok Amritraj, Shyam Benegal, Farah Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Ratna Pathak Shah, Danny Boyle, Rajkumar Hirani, Nagesh Kukunoor and others.According to Meghna, WWI has spent nearly Rs75 crore in putting together the infrastructure and equipment. She says that Subhash Ghaipromoted Mukta Arts holds 85 percent stake in the institute, while Filmcity, which has given the land for the institute, holds 15 percent. She says that her institute charges around Rs 5.5lakh for its eight-month certificate courses and up to Rs 15 lakh for its two-year course. On advice to Bollywood hopefuls, she said that hard work and dedication are essential to make a name in this industry. She said that it may look glamorous from the outside, but people working here keep odd timings and are under tremendous pressure. People must have a clearcut idea on what they want to do and how to survive, she said. She feels that star kids certainly have an edge, but the others can/must train for the job.

She says that those who have graduated from WWI are working in organisations like Balaji Telefilms, Channel 31 Australia, Dharma Productions, Excel Entertainment, 20th Century Fox India, Mukta Arts Limited, Paprikaas, Prana Studios, Red Chillies Entertainment, Spice Entertainment, Walkwater Films to name a few.Speaking about her husband, she says that he has always been very supportive of her work. Meghna met Rahul, while studying at King’s in London. Rahul, an investment banker quit his job and moved to India and currently works at Mukta Arts as executive director. She gives credit to Rahul for updating her on the happenings at office during her pregnancy that helped her to slip into her job easily on return.

She said that bringing her daughter Aanya to office helped and is a tech gizmo too. She says that her Blackberry, laptop, internet connection and mobile have given her the flexibility of working. One can balance work and home, even as brining up a baby is a full-time job, says Meghna. She said that before she became a mother she would sleep for eight hours, but nowadays even with four or five hours she is fresh. Accepting her award, she had addressed all men to ‘Value the girl child’ as she could achieve a lot for them. This means a lot especially since International Women’s Day falls on March 8 and the government is doing a lot since it is a skewed sex ratio in many states.

Taking a cue from Whistling Woods International,one of the largest production houses of the country, Balaji Telefilms, too has launched its media school. Not worried over the business rivalry, Meghna said that North America alone boasts of 600 film institutes and Bollywood, which churns out the largest number of films,the number of institutes in Mumbai, is really low. She is of the firm belief that there is an urgent need for trained professionals as the film and television industry is set to grow.