Can a woman execute the role of a combat in the Special Armed Forces? Do women in today’s era have what it takes to rise in a male-dominant field? What are the ideas that led to the conceptualisation of the well-revered web series? The students witnessed insights of digital filmmaking and much more from the team of the web series The Test Case at the masterclass held in Whistling Woods International, Mumbai on 28th February 2018.

The protagonist of the web series Nimrat Kaur accompanied by the director Vinay Waikul, producer Samar Khan, and writer Sudeep Nigam, who is also an alumnus, shared their experiences of working together. The web series is a bold step initiated to break the stereotype about women and their role in the Armed Forces.

"The Test Case has been one of the most rewarding journeys as an Actor!" said Nimrat, while interacting with the students of WWI. The dream team of the web series shared their expertise and learnings of making one of the most critically acclaimed web series.

The gifted actor, highlighted, "It's great to interact with the students of Whistling Woods International and share our experiences with the upcoming talent of the industry”.

While discussing her transformational journey into the character, she mentioned that she could relate to the story owing to her army background. She further added that “being an army kid, it was a rare privilege to practice the personal experiences, whilst in character.” Responding to one of the questions she said, “The Test Case has been one of the most rewarding journeys as an actor.”

While interacting with the students, Samar Khan shared, “It was Mr. Pranab Mukherjee’s declaration of women being allowed for combat in Armed Forces, which lead me to conceive this script.” His advice to the students, ''We must keep in mind the line between drama and documentary. It’s a difficult task to maintain that balance.” He further advised, “Always be open to collaborating in this field and it’s only then that the media industry would grow." 

Vinay Waikul stated, ''Don’t try and convince everyone because you will never be able to execute that”. He also explained to the students, “Always keep in mind that all the actors from the team should be on the same page for the story to succeed”. While answering one of the questions from the intrigued students, Sudeep Nigam emphasized on how one should always write a screenplay that works for the writer in the best way. He further added, “A writer should be observing and absorbing both simultaneously and should refrain from imparting their own point of view in a script”.

This masterclass offered great understanding as the students got an opportunity to inculcate valuable lessons about the new format of storytelling i.e. OTT (over – the – top) and digital filmmaking.

The session concluded with the team being bestowed with a token of appreciation by Rahul Puri, Head of Academics, Whistling Woods International.