Academy award nominee Iranian director Majid Majidi with Indian lead casts Ishaan Khattar and Malavika Mohanan during a press conference at IFFI in Panaji on Tuesday. PTIPanaji: Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi on Tuesday said he likes to work with newcomers as he believes heroes are to be found in the crowd.
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker, who is behind globally acclaimed films such as Children of Heaven and The Color of Paradise, said it was a dream to set a complete film in India and he eventually realized it with Beyond The Clouds.
The movie opened the 48th edition of the International Film Festival of India last evening and is slated to be released next year.
Actor Deepika Padukone had initially auditioned for the movie but Majidi finally chose newcomer Ishaan Khattar and Malayalam actor Malavika Mohanan.
"I choose my subjects from the society... I choose my heroes from the crowd. I mostly work with newcomers, but this doesn't mean that I don't want to work with professional ones," Majidi said at a press conference on the sidelines of IFFI.
The director said he may work with an established actor in his career later but finds it tough because of the locations he shoots in.
"It was tough to organize things on the sets with a big star. For one day, we organized auditions with Deepika. I remember it was difficult to manage things as people wanted to meet her and were very curious," he said.
For Tara's character, played by Mohanan, Majidi said he was inspired by his travels in India.
"In my films, locations have character as well. In this film, I have tried to find a character in the location, which was Mumbai.
"I had traveled (across) India many times before making the film so that was my evaluation of a normal poverty-struck woman. In countries with large population, possibility of women and children having social problems is more and that is was Tara is all about," he said.
The director is surprised by the popularity of his films India, particularly among youth.
"It is a wonderful feeling when young generation says good things about my cinema. But at the same time, it is a huge responsibility on me."
Majidi praises Rahman
The filmmaker, who has collaborated with A R Rahman for the second time on Beyond the Clouds, says one of the best qualities about the composer is that he is open to criticism. Rahman had earlier worked with Majidi on Muhammad: The Messenger of God (2015).
"Rahman is a special person. He is very talented and that is the reason why he is so famous. One of the good points about him is that he is very flexible. Sometimes, I ask him to change the tunes completely and he does it.
"It is a very rare when someone criticizes you and you accept. Rahman is open to criticism," Majidi said.
The director said working with Rahman is an interesting process.
"The only problem with Rahman is that with him you need to work at night. From night till morning. It was the biggest challenge. When I used to sleep, Rahman would come and ask me to listen to the music. He does what he wants. It was a wonderful collaboration and I am thankful to him for all the efforts he made," Majidi said.
Beyond the Clouds, produced by Zee Studios and Shareen Mantri Kedia and Kishor Arora of Namah Pictures, revolves around the life of a young brother-sister duo from Mumbai.
For the film, Majidi collaborated with an Indian cast and crew. Director Vishal Bhardwaj has written the Hindi dialogues of the film.
