'Beyond The Clouds': Ishaan Khatter makes splendid debut in Majidi's simple tale of unfamiliar bonds

In Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s Indian debut Beyond The Clouds, the shadows do the talking. Behind the stained glass, the pimp intricately checks new entrants of a brothel, behind the clean white sheet, a man tries to rape his object of affection only to be hit by rock by the woman in self-defence as a dash of red splutters over the pristine white, behind a dirty brown sheet, a young man strikes the most uncanny friendship with two young girls who do not understand his language and on a lonesome prison wall, a woman forges a new relationship with an orphan. Moments like these captured beautifully by Anil Mehta and with AR Rahman’s splendid background score make Beyond The Clouds a poignant film on unfamiliar bonds, hope and goodness.

The film opens in the bustling streets of Mumbai, with Aamir (debutant Ishaan Khatter) moving around the town doing his business. The cacophony on the streets, the chaos around, the busy life is beautifully captured giving the viewers a sense of how busy and unattached city life is. Aamir is a good guy, compassionate and loyal to his friends. An orphan, Tara, his sister is the only family he has. Aamir is a drug peddler and wants to become big in life- he is grown up on the streets of Mumbai and knows his way around the big bad city. His sister, Tara (Malavika Mohanan), fighting her own set of demons, works at Mumbai's famous dhobi ghaat with Akshi, her employer( Goutam Ghose). Aamir, Tara and Akshi's lives change one fateful morning as Akshi attempts to rape Tara and Tara in order to save herself hits him on the head and is sent to jail on charges of attempted murder. It is now up to Aamir to get Tara out of jail and ensure Akshi- who is now hospitalised- speaks up.

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Shot on real locations, with a mostly new cast - Beyond The Clouds appears very real from the beginning. Majidi, unlike a lot of otherdirectors, does not romanticise poverty but instead makes it a part of the bigger story. Sure, they are certain typical shots that capture Mumbai's underbelly or itschaos yet it never overpowers the characters or the situation at hand.

The first half stretches a bit. It takes its time to establish the plot and some of the lines-written by Vishal Bhardwaj- seem a bit forced or rather direct translation to English phrases.

The story picks up in the second half, when both Aamir and Tara, in their separate spaces, forge unlikely friendships with children. Majidi is known to present stories around children- some of his best works have had children as the core theme. In Beyond The Clouds, Majidi uses children as metaphors in simplifying the situation at hand. Some of the best moments in the film have Tara and Aamir interacting with their young companions, making them see new things in life, entertaining them.

Majidi uses a gamut of actors-theatre star Heeba Shah to Bengali filmmaker Goutam Ghose to arthouse veteran Tannishtha Chatterjee - in supporting roles. The film though rests upon its lead pair, Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan who deliverimpressive performances in their first outing on the big screen. Ishaan is natural on screen and fits in as Aamir -the local-street smart boy with a good heart. Ishaan doesn't have to try too hard to look the part and his effortless charm brings in a certain naiveness to Aamir, making him the most endearing character of the entire lot. Malavika plays a strong headed Tara, who despite the odds, is a fighter and knows how to fend for herself. Malavika delivers a confident performance but slips in parts where her urban upbringing overpowers her character. Her English pronunciation appears too upper class- and it's those moments where Malavika falls short of delivering a superlative performance.

The film though has a few flaws. Majidi's world is a lot more sanitised that how it actually is in reality. Tara lives alone in a modest flat- which may be tiny but still aesthetically done. The hospital where Akshi is being treated is supposed to be a government hospital and yet it always seems to be empty - which is never really the case in real life, especially in a government hospital. Tara and Aamir may be siblings- but the director never delves deeper on how close they are. Majidi also takes a simplistic approach in dealing with poverty making the viewers instead concentrate on what good can be extracted from the situation at hand.

The film though works because of Anil Mehta's splendid camera work. Mehta makes the unlikely places of Mumbai look picturesque making the film a treat to the eyes. Majidi's simple tale of hope, friendship and love also gives Bollywood a new star to watch out for. Ishaan Khatter's unconventional Bollywood debut is bound to make people sit up and take notice of him. Much like his character Aamir, Ishaan is effortlessly charming, goofy and talented. Watch Beyond The Clouds for this new guy. He's here to stay.