Gautam Adani addressed the students of Whistling Woods International Institute in Mumbai and shared his thoughts on the power of storytelling, cinema and India's cultural identity.
Reflecting on the uniqueness of the occasion, he said, "Never did I imagine that an infrastructure entrepreneur like me would be speaking to some of the most creative minds of our country. This year is indeed special, marking the centenary celebrations of two towering legends, Guru Dutt Ji and Raj Kapoor Ji. Together, they taught us that cinema is not just entertainment. It is poetry in motion, philosophy in colour, and the heartbeat of a nation finding its voice."
He quoted from Raj Kapoor's iconic film Anari, "Raj Kapoor Ji beautifully understood this in the film Anari. Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar... kisi ka dard mil sake to le udhaar. This was not just a lyric. It was a philosophy, a philosophy that goes and demands the soft power of Bharat, of feelings expressed through art."
He also touched upon Kapoor's legacy. "What I also find fascinating is how brilliantly his act of a common man touched a deep emotion with Soviet audiences in the era of post-World War II. Raj Kapoor Ji was India's finest advocate of soft power, building a cultural bond that uplifted and induced India and Soviet ties for generations," he shared.
Recalling how he was invited to speak at the institute, Adani said, "And so when Subhash Ji invited me to speak, I asked myself, what wisdom could a builder of ports and airports possibly share with you? But as I reflected, I realised that every project I have built did not begin with steel, but began with a story. Before you lay a foundation in the ground, you must lay a foundation in the mind. Buildings will crumble. Empires will fail. But long after the lights go out and the final credits roll, it is the story that remains, lighting the path for those who come next."
Adani praised the vision behind the institute. "And perhaps no story reflects this spirit more beautifully than the one behind the creation of Whistling Woods. A few years back, it was over breakfast that Subhash Ji shared a story of a trip to America where an immigration officer had looked at his passport and commented, 'Oh, India, the land of Gandhi. What a remarkable film.' In that instant, our nation's identity was stamped not by its politics or power, but by a story - a film that had captured the world's memory."
He added, "I vividly recall Subhash Ji telling me that this simple comment led him to question his life's mission. Why must it take Richard Attenborough from across the ocean to tell us Indians the story of our Mahatma? And so I learned how Whistling Woods was born - an institute built not by walls, but of a single man's dream. A dream that Bharat must tell her own stories."
He also spoke fondly about Subhash Ghai's influence. He added, "My dear friends, every conversation with Subhas Ji feels less like an exchange of words and more like opening a fascinating book - one where every page reveals to you an unseen truth about yourself. He does not debate. He awakens by the quiet force of his questions and storytelling. He makes you look inward, not to seek answers, but to stimulate reflections. His words turn questions into mirrors, and in those mirrors you discover not answers, but the deeper questions you must reflect on."
In a personal reflection, Adani also shared how Hindi cinema had shaped his own journey. "Reels of action-packed Hindi films shaped my ambition and imagination. Reels of films such as Don and Zanjeer that always provoked the rationalist dreamer within me," he said.
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