Real-life missing in Indian films, says Majid Majidi

As someone who counts Satyajit Ray as a huge influence, Majid Majidi decided to set his latest film "Beyond the Clouds" in Mumbai streets, which he believes, are full of incredible heroes trying to lead a life of dignity in the face of struggle.

The Iranian director has always been fascinated with Ray's cinematic outlook and how his heroes come from everyday life, something that he feels is missing in Indian cinema today.

"Satyajit Ray's films had an effect on me. (They inspired me) to follow a certain interpretation of life. And (I would like) to influence younger generation. In 'Pather Panchali', there is a respect that he has for his hero, even in the poverty. His heroes come from this class of society and they are trying for life," Majidi told PTI in an interview.

"Struggling people are my heroes. I am not glorifying poverty, it is bad. (But) I believe that a person has a lot of interior values that we do not see," he adds.

The director says it was a dream come true to set one of his films in India, which he believes, is culturally very close to Iran.

"I always wanted to make a film in India as it is a dramatic country with dramatic locations. The streets and the alleys of Bombay are full of stories, something that you can't find anywhere else. I always wondered why we do not see such kind of stories in Indian cinema. Apart from Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal and Mira Nair, you rarely find these stories in the cinema here."
"When I was a child, I always wanted to know what was happening on the other side of the wall. In India, the walls are broken, you see a lot of things. I recently saw an old man on the street trying to take a bath with very little water whereas I had used a lot of water in the hotel. I felt ashamed to have done that. Next day, I tried to use as little water as I could."
"First, we shot the scenes out of the jail, and then after one month, I told her she has to lose weight. She had to be thin for the portion inside the jail and she worked hard to do that."
"Next time, he wore a large T-shirt and sat with a hunch."