Our Academic Alliances

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)

Established by an Act of Parliament in 1985, Indira Gandhi National Open University:

 Is the world's largest University with over 3 million students

 Offers more than 400 specially designed need-based academic, professional, vocational, awareness generating and skill-oriented programmes leading to certificates, diplomas and degrees (bachelor's, master's & doctoral) in both distance and face-to-face mode

 Is present through an elaborate network of more than 62 Regional Centres and around 3600 learner support centers across India and 60 Overseas Centres in 36 countries abroad

 Offers about 400 certificate, diploma, degree and doctoral programmes with strength of around 800 faculty members and academic staff at the Headquarters and regional centres and about 36,000 academic counselors hailing from conventional institutions of higher learning.

For more details, visit the website: http://www.ignou.ac.in/

Coventry University, UK

Coventry University is a forward-looking, modern university with a proud tradition as a provider of high quality education and a focus on applied research.

Their students benefit from state-of-the-art equipment and facilities in all academic disciplines including health, design and engineering laboratories, performing arts studios and computing centres. They have been chosen to host three national Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning which has enabled them to invest substantial sums of money in health, design and mathematics.

Their city-centre campus is continually developing and evolving, and they have plans for further investment in it over the next few years. They have a major presence in Coventry, which contributes to the city's friendly and vibrant atmosphere and also enables them to foster successful business partnerships.

Through their links with leading edge businesses and organisations in the public and voluntary sectors, students are able to access project and placement opportunities that enhance their employability on graduation.

For more details, visit the website: http://wwwm.coventry.ac.uk/

Whistling Woods International, an initiative of Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts Limited & Filmcity Mumbai

Promoted by Subhash Ghai, Mukta Arts Limited & Filmcity Mumbai, Whistling Woods International is Asia's largest Film, Television, Animation and Media Arts institute, providing world-class education in all technical and creative aspects of Film & Television, offering courses that vary in duration from 10 months to 30 months, in the areas of Acting, Animation, Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Producing, Screenwriting and Sound as well and Television & Broadcasting Studies.

The full-time faculty of Whistling Woods International is a body of academics and industry professionals with regular guest lectures by leading Indian & International filmmakers, actors & technicians like Rakeysh Mehra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Farhan Akhtar, AshokAmritraj, Shyam Benegal, Farah Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Ratna Pathak Shah, Danny Boyle, Rajkumar Hirani, Nagesh Kukunoor etc. Whistling Woods International graduates have found placements with several leading media 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 and several more.

Faculty at Whistling Woods International are highly skilled professionals each having a minimum of 10-15 yrs of experience in the Indian / international Media & Entertainment Industry. Some of the full time faculty are:

John Lee Jr – Dean, WWI
Anjum Rajabali – HOD Screenwriting
Ashmaki Acharya – HOD Direction
Rajen Kothari – Senior Professor, Cinematography
Rakesh Ranjan – HOD Sound Recording & Design
Umesh Gupta – HOD Editing

WWI students interact with top ranking professionals in the industry on a very regular basis. Here is a snapshot of the industry immersion activities that happened recently:

Creative Imagery and Photography Workshop with noted British documentary photographer, Anna Fox
UNESCO Asian Documentary Workshop with Dutch filmmaker Wiek Lenssen
Interaction with director Rajkumar Hirani on his latest movie ‘3 Idiots’
A TV Writing Workshop by Noted Screenplay Writer Vinod Ranganath for Screenwriting students, Producing Workshop with James P Mimikos, noted Greek producer
Guest Lecture by Dr. Ira Bhaskar, Associate Prof. of Cinema Studies at the School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi
Master-class with Director Imtiaz Ali on on his two films 'Love Aaj Kal' and 'Jab We Met'
A special screening of ‘LSD’ followed by a guest lecture & interaction with the Director Dibakar Bannerjee & the DOP Nikos.
Master-class with Director Karan Johar on 'My Name is Khan'
‘A Comparitive Analysis between Optical and Digital Medium' - A Technical Presentation by Kodak

It is such industry-links and real-world experiences that are the key fundamentals of education at Whistling Woods International.

For more details, visit the website: www.whistlingwoods.net/

Annamalai University

Annamalai University is over 82 year old, premier, unitary and residential teaching university. Annamalai University today is spread over an extensive campus of about one thousand acres and has the Faculties of Arts, Science, Indian Languages, Engineering and Technology, Education, Fine Arts, Agriculture, Medicine and Dentistry and, in all, they comprise 49 Departments of Study.

The Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalai University, established in 1979 offers five hundred and twenty-five different programmes of study under the Regular Stream. It is credited with the largest number of enrolments in India. National Assessment and Accreditation Council has accredited Annamalai University.

For more details, visit the website: http://annamalaiuniversity.ac.in/