Mumbai: Students at Whistling Woods has attended screening of first time director Abbas Tyrewala’s runaway hit Jaane Tu….Ya Jaane Na, followed by the freewheeling discussion with the man himself as the start to academia.

Abbas’ story of his journey from the days of his childhood when he wrote poetry, to writing jingles for commercials, while in college, to his foray into cinema seems like the stuff of which dreams are made.

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai generously played host, and set things in perspective, describing Jaane Tu….Ya Jaane Na as "a complete film by a competent writer".

On the subject of what constituted a good script, Abbas reiterated emphatically, that a writer had to accept the fact, "A script is essentially raw material for a finished product of a director. Don’t try to put your signature on it if you are not the director. Share the vision of the director, don’t work against it."

"Also, in the telling of the tale, guide the audience’s eye, but do not treat the audience as an external factor. And to never forget: Does the story ask `a question worth asking, and having done so….spend the entire duration of the film, in trying to answer that question?" he further added.