So I finally managed to catch the much talked about and highly anticipated Majid Majidi film, Beyond The Clouds. The film is about two siblings Amir (Ishaan Khatter) and Tara (Malavika Mohanan) who get into problems after a drug bust. Amir is a peddler from Mumbai and because of him, his sister Tara lands up in jail.
While Tara finds family in her jail mates, Amir too finds a small family in the form of an old woman and her two grandchildren, who walk into his life unexpectedly. The film showcases how even in the midst of difficult challenges, we sometimes find happiness in the little things.
Director Majid Majidi is known for his brilliant storytelling and his ability to weave a great story out of simple everyday things and incidences.His films have always moved us and touched our hearts. Beyond The Clouds has the same effect on the audience ( Well, at least it did on me!).A remarkable mention is the way that Majid Majidi has shown India. Unlike most foreign filmmakers, who make films based in India, Majid Majidi has not highlighted on the extreme poverty or the diseases and feeling of despair that India has become synonyms with, thanks to some of the foreign filmmakers who come to our ‘desh’ to shoot their films and documentaries. In other words, the film is not another much hyped Slumdog Millionaire!
Beyond The Clouds is Shahid Kapoor’s younger brother, Ishaan Khatter’s debut film and also the first Hindi film for s
South actor Malavika Mohanan. But what is amazing is that it does not seems like the two are new to the craft.Both Ishaan and Malavika are extremely impressive in the film. While Malavika could have had more to do in the film, she has proved herself as a gifted actor with some extraordinary performance she has put into the film. Ishaan you could say is well on his way to becoming one of the leading gen next stars! His expressions, dialogue deliveries, the way he emotes are all in sync with the character he plays.
The scene where Amir comes back home from the jail and has a meltdown after meeting his sister and he does not know how to vent out his anger because he is helpless and cannot help his sister out of jail is one of Ishaan’s best moments as an actor. You feel the anger and the pain along with him.
Another favorite scene was the part where an injured Amir does an impromptu shadow dance to Prabhudeva’s Muqabla number just to cheer up the little girl, Asha.
Child actors Asha and Tanisha, bring a sense of warmth and innocence in the second half of the film. All the other character actors; Tannishtha Chatterjee, Goutam Ghosh, the little boy in the jail, etc. are exceptional too.
If you go to watch the film with certain expectations that might come naturally if you have watched Majid Majidi’s earlier films like Color Of Paradise and Children Of Heaven etc. then there is a chance that you might be a wee bit disappointed. Having said that, it is only fair that we do not compare Beyond The Clouds with his other films because this is different and this one has been shot in our country and with our actors. So go watch Beyond The Clouds and witness some excellent performances by the actors!
