Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Majid Majidi is the man behind brilliant and amazing movies like ‘Children of Heaven’ and ‘The Color of Paradise’. He had one dream and it is his dream project. He had always been to complete a film in India. And Majid’s dream came true with ‘Beyond The Clouds’.

It was the movie that opened the 48th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and is all scheduled to release next year. The director revealed that this movie dwells on the adoration of love, life, and nuanced human relationships.

As everyone knows that Majid is very fond of working with newcomers and has finalized Malavika Mohan and Ishan Khatter for the movie. Many might not know that Deepika Padukone had initially auditioned for the movie but Majid decided to go ahead with Ishan and Malavika.

But the question remains Why Majid Majidi didn’t cast Deepika ‘Padmavati’ Padukone in this film?

Remember the actress’ deglamorized pictures had gone viral when she auditioned for the part in Iranian filmmaker’s project. But soon Malavika Mohanan was confirmed for the female lead opposite Ishaan Khattar who makes his debut with this film.

However, Majid didn’t hesitate to answer the question and said:

“I didn’t want to work with Bollywood superstars. I always wanted to shoot at different locations in Mumbai, because locations are also characters in my films. But even for one audition, it was difficult with Deepika (Padukone) as there were a large crowd and even more curiosity. That was the reason for not wanting to cast a superstar,” a Pinkvilla report quoted the filmmaker as saying.

“I choose my subjects from the society. I choose my heroes from the crowd. I mostly work with newcomers, but this doesn’t mean that I don’t want to work with professional ones,” Majidi said at a press conference on the sidelines of IFFI.

A daily quoted Majidi: “My producers tell me that Deepika had shown some interest in the beginning and it is because of that, that I wanted her to be part of my movie. And when I asked her for a look test, it was not to doubt her professionalism. She is an excellent actress. But how much she befits the role, that is in my vision, I wanted to see. Let me tell you though, that the circumstances were such that they weren’t favorable and nothing materialized of it.”

“I work with professionals in my movies. If you see my films, I pick up people randomly from the actual habitat. In my movie, if there is an old lady or a young man, a small child, if I picked them before they had ever seen the lens (of a camera), they come out as natural actors and I get the maximum out of them,” he added.

He also further added that he would love to work with an established actor but finds if difficult because of the location he shoots in. Here’s a shot from Deepika’s audition for ‘Beyond The Clouds’.

“It was tough to organize things on the sets with a big star. For one day, we organized auditions with Deepika. I remember it was difficult to manage things as people wanted to meet her and were very curious,” stated Majid as he revealed why they couldn’t go ahead with casting Deepika.

The film also marks Majidi’s debut in Indian cinema. ‘Beyond The Clouds’ will revolve around the lives of a young brother-sister duo and cinema lovers will be in for a treat as the Hindi dialogues will be written by Vishal Bharadwaj. The film premiered at International Film Festival of India recently and got a standing ovation and everyone couldn’t resist praising his direction and Ishaan Khatttar’s mature acting in his first film itself.

What do you think about Majid’s approach to finding the perfect actor for his movies? Do you think Deepika would have been a better choice? Share your views with us in the comment section below.

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