I’ve seen many Indian films recently, I liked none, he complains
Although Majid Majidi needs no introduction to the cinephiles across the globe, his name is suddenly resonating across India thanks to his recent release, Beyond The Clouds. That’s not only because the film is set in the underbelly of Mumbai, but also because this is essentially an Indian film, made partly in Hindi.
Majid Majidi finds it ironical that a country like India that is throbbing with real stories, seldom makes realistic cinema(Prabhat Shetty)
“India needs to tell stories that don’t only talk about a make-believe world…I’ve seen many [Bollywood movies] recently... I liked none!”
Instead of trying to make global cinema by blurring geographical and cultural identities, Majidi’s films tell hyperlocal stories of present-day Iran (Prabhat Shetty )
“The first condition for an artist is to respect every culture. you can question things, but you need to respect them first”
Best of Majidi
Children of Heaven (1997): Majidi’s first internationally-acclaimed film, is a tale of a brother and sister who lose a pair of shoes and then try to hide it from their parents.
The Color of Paradise (1999): This story of an eight-year-old blind boy whose father wants to get rid of him was adjudged the Best Film at the Montreal Film Festival in 1999.
Baran (2001): With this film, Majidi tackles romantic love and exposes the plight of Afghan refugee workers living on the outskirts of Trehan.
The Song of Sparrows (2008): Majidi creates an epic out of an ostrich escaping the farm and a father’s journey to the city to buy a hearing aid for his daughter where he becomes materialistic. This was Iran’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film in the 81st Academy Award
Majidi’s films often explore the beauty of Islamic tradition while exposing its negative aspects, especially the politically motivated version of Islam (Prabhat Shetty )Majidi and the filmmakers of the Iranian Neo-Realism movement have found a way to work around government-imposed restrictions, often by using symbolism to smoothen the rough edges of realism (Prabhat Shetty)Majidi sees Beyond the Clouds as a continuation of Children of Heaven. Amir and Tara of Beyond the Clouds are Ali and Zahra from Children of Heaven. Only they have grown up and relocated to a city (Prabhat Shetty)
