IFFI Goa 2017, V: Majidi’s Made in India ‘Beyond the Clouds’ is opening film
Oscar-nominated Iranian director Majid Majidi (Children of Heaven, The Colour of Paradise) a favourite among Indian cine-buffs, will show his Made in India film at the 48th. International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa. It will be the opening film, also marking its Indian première, on 20 November. Malavika Mohanan stars in the film, which marks the debut of Ishaan Khatter. This was confirmed on the iffi.org website.
It is a ‘trilingual’ and has dialogue in three languages: English, Tamil and Hindi. National Film Award winner Vishal Bhardwaj (Talvar, Kaminey, Haider) has written the Hindi dialogue. Beyond the Clouds has music by A.R. Rahman, who worked with Majidi on his earlier film, Muhammed: The Messenger of God. Cinematography is by Anil Mehta while the film is edited by Hassan Hassandoost, from Iran. It is 120 minutes long.
Beyond The Clouds revolves a brother and sister, which takes place in the underbelly of the ever bustling city of Mumbai. When on the run from the police, Amir finds his estranged sister Tara, who in a bid to protect her brother, lands up in jail. Their entire lives have been clouded by despair, as, unexpectedly, light shines on them from Beyond the Clouds.
Majidi, along with the lead actors, Oscar winning music director A.R. Rahman and Vishal Bhardwaj, is expected to attend the première.
"Ishaan packs a punch", Shahid seems to be saying!
Malavika Mohanan, daughter of renowned cinematographer K.U. Mohanan, has worked in films made in the south, while Ishaan’s parents are actress Neelima Azeem and Rajesh Khatter. Neelima was earlier married to Pankaj Kapur and is the mother of Shahid Kapur. Neelima had broken the news of the casting to me about a year ago, and now we shall see the arrival of Shahid’s kid step-brother on the prestigious silver screen of IFFI. Watch out for two tattoos that help define Ishaan’s persona.
Majid Majidi was born in Teheran in 1959 into an Iranian middle class family. After the Islamic revolution in 1978, his interest in cinema brought him to act in various films, notably Boycott (1985) by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. His debut as a director and screenwriter came with Baduk (1992), his first feature film that was presented at the Directors Fortnight in Cannes. Children of Heaven (1997) won the Best Picture award at Montreal International Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Foreign Film Academy Award. The Colour of Paradise (1999) has also won the Best Picture award at Montreal International Film Festival.