India has brilliant talent, but they get no chance: Majidi

Panaji, Nov 21 (IANS) India's film industry should ensure that the country's young talent is not stifled, renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi said here on Tuesday.

Majidi was addressing a press conference during the ongoing 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), a day after his first India-set film "Beyond the Clouds" -- an Indo-Iranian co-production -- was screened as the nine-day festival's opening film.

"In India, cinema is like an industry. Young generations do not have chances for innovation in order to express themselves because of the shadow of the industry. Based on my personal experience, I have found out that in India you have brilliant talent but they do not have the chance," Majidi said.

"We should create a situation that they can express themselves and even make changes in the cinema... What I am saying is that I am not against Bollywood cinema. They have their own way, so they continue in their way," he said.

He said that if young and talented people do not get a chance to express themselves, they hit a "dead end".

For "Beyond The Clouds", which introduces actors Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan, Majidi has collaborated with Oscar winner A.R. Rahman. This is not the first time they are getting together.l

They had worked on the 2015 movie "Muhammad: The Messenger of God", on the life of Prophet Muhammed.

Majidi said he loves Rahman's scores but loathes his work hours as the composer has a penchant for working through nights. It was tough for Majidi because by the time he was readying to hit the bed, Rahman would come up to him with ready score.

"Only problem was that Rahman works from night till morning. It was the biggest challenge with Rahman," Majidi said.

He said Rahman has a rare gift of being flexible as well as being supremely talented, which made him a very special person and a treat to work with.

"One of the good points about Rahman is that he is very flexible. Sometimes it happens, for example, that he sits together, he has done some scores and I said, 'No, I do not like them. We should do something new'.

"It's a very good feeling when someone can listen to criticism and can accept it... Somehow it was a kind of a discovery of each other's feeling," Majidi said.