Whistling Woods International hosted its open-to-all annual festival dedicated to aspirants from the purview of film, communication, and creative arts. Celebrate Cinema, in its 10th edition, commemorated the 75 Years of Indian Independence with the theme - 'Celebrating Cinema, Celebrating 75 Years of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Through the Journey of Indian Cinema'. This year's edition of the event focused on the portrayal of patriotism in Indian Cinema and how it unites the audience of the nation.
The platform offered insights into the artistic, technical, and commercial aspects of the media & entertainment industry over the span of 3 days from September 22, 23 & 24, 2022.
The inaugural ceremony was graced by the team of classical movie, Karma followed by an interactive panel discussion with Subhash Ghai, Jackie Shroff, Poonam Dhillon, Naseeruddin Shah and Anjum Rajabali. While reminiscing their journey in the industry and reliving their good old days shooting for the film, the team discussed the importance of patriotic fervour and how it should be imbibed in students during their formative years of education.
Speaking about his interaction, Naseeruddin Shah added, "I feel inspired interacting with the aspirants today. I love watching the dreams and hopes in their eyes, that reminds me of the passion that I carried for my craft. I hope the interaction will enable them to believe in themselves, and manifest their dreams."
The grand fest also witnessed the presence of team Shershaah for a masterclass, who appreciated the initiative of celebrating cinema that lets everyone experience, learn and love the magical world of cinema.
Commenting about the event, Sidharth Malhotra shared, "It is always a wonderful feeling coming back to WWI. I still reminisce about the wonderful memories of the acting workshop I pursued here, before the launch of my first film, Student of the Year". Talking about the event, he said, "The entire team is overwhelmed to receive so much love from the audience." Having worked with some of the WWI alumni, he further added, “We need more schools like WWI to hone talent and help aspirants turn their passion into profession.”
The event also hosted panel discussions with renowned industry professionals like Sidharth Malhotra, Anees Bazmee, Irshad Kamil, Manoj Muntashir, Annu Kapoor, Anjum Rajabali, Rumy Jafry, Sukhwinder Singh, Pavail Gulati, Radhika Apte, Aahana Kumra, Amol Parashar, Rajshri Deshpande, Nitin Baid, Sandeep Shrivastava, Sohel Sanwari, Hitesh Kewalya, Vishnu Varadhan, Divyang Thakkar, Renuka Shahane, Alankrita Shrivastava, Anusha Nandakumar, Paula McGlynn, and Sarang Sathaye amongst others. In addition, to these, WWI conducted specially curated 50+ workshops on Production Design, VR, Character Design & Animation, Theatre Games, Influencer Marketing, Makeup, Mobile Filmmaking, Styling, and many more for the attendees to experience and understand what goes behind the scenes in the media & entertainment industry.
The closing ceremony of Celebrate Cinema 2022, in the presence of Subhash Ghai, ended on a musical note with singer, composer, and performer, Sukhwinder Singh. In addition, live music gigs by WWI School of Music students added to the jubilation. As this year’s edition of Celebrate Cinema marked its end, all those present at the event parted with a heart full of joy, memories, and immense learnings.