Kartik Aaryan and Rajkumar Hirani Honoured by Gautam Adani at Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods International; Hirani Calls Adani’s Speech the “Sholay of Speeches!”

Ziya Khan 4 weeks agoLast Updated: October 11, 2025

On October 10, the final day of the Celebrate Cinema 2025 festival, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, delivered a compelling talk on the Soft Power of Cinema at Subhash Ghai’s prestigious filmmaking institute, Whistling Woods International. The event was attended by cinema stalwarts Rajkumar Hirani, Kartik Aaryan, Mahaveer Jain, Dr. Priti Adani, and Subhash Ghai. Bollywood Hungama was present to witness the session, which received an enthusiastic response from the audience.

Following the speech, Kartik Aaryan was honoured for his outstanding performance in Chandu Champion (2024), while Rajkumar Hirani was felicitated for his immense contributions to Indian cinema. Gautam Adani discussed the transformative impact of AI on filmmaking. Starting his speech with humor, Kartik Aaryan confessed, “Sir, I’ve always been quite scared of AI. When you spoke about AI, I thought you were going to tell students, ‘Beta, ho gaya! Ab toh jo hai, woh AI hai’ (laughs).” He then praised Adani’s inspiring message, saying, “But the way you motivated us was truly commendable. Honestly, I didn’t expect to hear a speech like this. It’s one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard.”

A charming moment unfolded when Subhash Ghai reminded Kartik to acknowledge the institute. Kartik promptly responded, “Yes, sir, I’m saying it—Whistling Woods International! Honestly, it’s the best school!”Subhash Ghai took the stage next, sharing fond memories: “Few know that Kartik was my hero in Kaanchi (2014) and even worked as my assistant director for six months. I was also his teacher! Chandu Champion is one of my favourite films and performances.”Rajkumar Hirani followed with high praise for Adani’s speech: “What can I say after that? Sometimes, a film comes once in 15-20 years that makes you wish, ‘Kaash yeh maine likhi hoti.’

After hearing your speech, I felt exactly that! It’s truly wonderful—I would call it the Sholay of speeches! It reminded us of the soft power of cinema. There’s muscle power and political power, but soft power is the power of the heart. Cinema touches people’s hearts, and you reminded us of that beautifully. ”Hirani shared a touching anecdote: “Once, while in South Korea, a stranger approached me and asked if I was Indian. When I said yes, he told me he had seen 3 Idiots and loved it because of its relatable education issues. I said, ‘I know the director of that film’ (laughs).