MUMBAI: Director Rajkumar Hirani conducted the first master class of 2010 at Whistling Woods International (WWI).

Hirani was at WWI to talk about his film making experiences and learning, his recent blockbuster, 3 idiots and the importance of pursuing education in what you love doing.

Hirani said, "The most important thing is scripting. If you have a good script, execution is simple. The more time you spend on the script, the fewer the problems while making the movie. If you are spending a year fine-tuning the script, it is a good investment. Pre-production and casting are also extremely critical. I advise students to plan in as much details as possible. Do all groundwork before commencing the shoot."

"Large film budgets are not necessarily a good thing. Lack of resources promotes innovation," added Hirani.

Hirani  who got his big break as film editor with the film Mission Kashmir and has directed films like Munnabhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai and the recently released 3 Idiots told the students of WWI that pursing ones dreams is very important and so is acquiring formal education in ones chosen professional.

He said, "Many of the experiences shared in the film were personal. I had originally intended to become an engineer because of it being the most popular option among everyone those days. However, I was fortunate not to get a seat and my interest in theatre got the better of me. I had to make a huge effort in convincing my father to let me pursue film-making, similar to the scene in the movie. Once convinced, it was my father who suggested that I join an institute to learn the trade. I also joined a film school to learn direction but got into editing as there were no seats in the direction course. Again, this was a blessing in disguise, because now I know how important editing is. I am able to script well and shoot exactly what I need and there are zero scenes that need to be cut during the edit. Education is a must; else one will probably take eight years to learn what one can learn in three."