Ranbir Kapoor promises to share his craft with new generation as he launches scholarships at Subhas Ghai's filmmaking school

Ranbir Kapoor and Subhash Ghai

Students eager to listen and learn - and Ranbir Kapoor as their teacher - now that's a classroom everyone would love to join. But this special session was reserved for the students of filmmaker Subhash Ghai's Whistling Woods International (WWI). The veteran director recently announced two new annual scholarships in the names of Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor for aspiring filmmakers who cannot afford the fees.

Taking a break from the shoot of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love & War, Ranbir Kapoor dropped by the academy to inaugurate the scholarships. "He is like my son," says Ghai warmly. "Rishi [Kapoor] was a great friend. Ranbir has shown that spark [since his] first film - that's why he's the number one actor in the industry today." The director adds that Ranbir has evolved both as a person and an actor since his marriage, and even more so after becoming a father. Ranbir has also promised to offer his services as a teacher to the acting students. "He will come whenever he can make time because when you coach the younger generation, you learn
something from them too," shares Ghai.

WWI, which already has around 10 scholarships, also has ones named after Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. "We encourage students here to think of Indian original content. We have filmmaking courses for directors, producers, writers, and actors. Each scholarship will sponsor one student [for as long as the] institute exists," Ghai explains.