Bollywood bug bites Majidi

Noted Iranian film director ties up with UTV.

When Majid Majidi, one of the top Iranian directors, was in Delhi recently, it was to discuss his new film. With one of his assistant directors, Ramyar Rossoukh, who even doubled as his translator (no, sadly Majidi didn't talk directly to us in English) this veteran director began talking about his next film which will be set in India.

"We at SpotBoy had worked on a script and approached Majidi as we felt only he could do justice to it. However, he was already working on a script that interested us and after some rounds of discussions we decided to enter a partnership with him for a film that will now be shot in India," says Vikas Bahl, creative and business head, SpotBoy, UTV.

While it is unclear how much will be spent on Majidi's film, SpotBoy, which has already roped in directors like Shyam Benegal and Anurag Kashyap for its brand of films, will work on medium- and big-budget films.

In other words, depending upon the scripts, films under SpotBoy, UTV's second motion picture brand, will be made anywhere between Rs one crore and Rs 30 crore.

While Majidi says that the rich Indian culture (reflective even in Bollywood) has always interested him, what he wants to create with his first Bollywood outing is a synergy between the artistes of Iran and India.

"The cast and crew will be from India and Iran though my cinematographer Tooraj Mansouri will be a constant," says Majidi. He adds, "I like working with amateur artistes and I might do the same for this film too."

While he is tight-lipped about his first Indian film project, Bahl hopes to launch the film within the next eight months. "We are here to make films with very strong scripts," he says.

For now, let's wait and watch the magic that Majidi creates in India with his next film.