Filmmaker Subhash Ghai on Friday said that he felt “cheated” by the Maharashtra government after Supreme Court upheld the Bombay High Court order quashing the 20 acre land allotted to his film school Whistling Woods International.
“We feel cheated by Government of Maharashtra when we are told after 10 years of setting up Whistling Woods at a cost of Rs. 75 crore that our joint venture agreement (signed between his Mukta Arts and the Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation (MFSCDC) is not valid because of a government error that a board resolution was not passed and the land was undervalued.
“What is our fault? They gave the agreement to us signed by the then MD, Cultural Secretary and Minister of Culture to have a partnership in Whistling Woods Ltd. with share equity and we invested Rs. 20 crore to begin with,” Mr. Ghai said in a statement in Mumbai.
Prominent film personalities like Shekhar Kapoor and Shyam Benegal came out in Mr. Ghai’s support, saying that his cinema school should not be called a scam.
“Ghai gave 15 years of his time and energy to create a centre of learning for cinema. Whistling Woods is not a scam, he should be applauded. It is not possible to build educational institutions at current land prices in any city... government has to allocate land for this. Tisch film school in Singapore is built on land given free by the government.”
Mr. Benegal said he was saddened by the verdict in the case.
“Ghai had taken upon himself as a mission to create a world class film school. He worked tirelessly for 13 years to fulfil this dream and finally succeeded in making it happen. Mumbai could now pride itself on having a film school as good as any in the world. And suddenly this... Strange!”
On April 4, 2012 the Supreme Court had pulled up former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for giving 20 acres of land to Mr. Ghai in 2004 for his film institute, saying he cannot treat anyone as a “blue-eyed boy” and bend or bypass the rules.
Keywords: Maharashtra land row, Subash Ghai, Whistling Woods, Vilasrao Deshmukh
I am amused at what Subash Ghai said. I would be too naive to believe
that Subash Ghai did not know about the wrongdoing when the land was
given to his film school. Mr Ghai is a native of Bombay, & definitely
could have done the math, when he looked at the price he had to pay the
government for the land. In true Bollywood style, like the masala &
formula movies he is famous for, he expected a great ending.
As for Shekhar Kapoor and Shyam Benegal - well, they belong to the same
fraternity. Movie is business for them. They are great directors, but I
am disappointed - "15 years of time and energy" is not reason enough
for to condone wrong doing.They need to realize that is is reality
land, and not Bollywood, where the most bizarre things happen,
everything is hunky-dory. Having said, that even in Bollywood good
things happen only to those who are law abiding - what am I missing
here?
Of course the film fraternity will cry foul and so will Mr. Ghai. But, they need to
introspect how they influence the people in power to get favors. That is not an
error but outright illegal as held by the highest court of the land. These people
should be held in contempt not only of the court but anything relating decency.
Mr. Ghai,
We were cheated for so many years. Now its right that you should also feel cheated, when the things are not on your side.
Is it absolutely essential to build this on a prime land? Why can't he
buy a low cost land himself out of city without Govt help and build his
own? I wonder what will be left over for the billions of poor Indians
after all these politicians have eaten what ever they can?There should
be a public advertisement while allocating Govt land for any purpose
with all the details calling for objection if any.Otherwise this will
repeat again and again and the media and lawyers can have business
running after them.
Of course, it is your fault to collute with Deshmukh, the then CM of Maharashtra to get the land allotted at unduly low prices. Main issue here is, the Government should have called for bids from film perfonalities even if it wanted to set up a JV Film School. Why it was not done? Why they chose only Mr. Ghai, as if no other person is qualified? Isnt it blatant scam Mr. Ghai? Of course, it is your fault to jump to such a deal thinking that nothing would happen and you can enjoy the benefits without competition milking crores from government land. Now, like 2G telecom companies, you shall suffer. This kind of (2G and this verdicts) verdicts are good lesson for all the scamsters that they shall not jump to those deals just coz you are close to some Ministers.
Dude, your fault is that you had not obtained proper legal opinion at
the time of entering into the JV. Could had had a good lawyer on board
at that time. Now you missed the bus. All the best.
He may be working hard but he do charge high fees to those who wants to
learn in his institute. Further, after 10 years he move his institute to
some other land and sell that land on huge profits. Is there any
explanation for that Mr Subhash Ghai? Why would people suffer for your
wishes. Why cant you buy that land now to justify that you are truly
passionate about bringing Film making education in forefront.
Film school could have been set up in interiors of India where land costs are less. If it has to be setup in Mumbai then fair value has to be paid.
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