MUMBAI: After signing directors like Shyam Benegal, Anurag Kashyap, and debutant Raj Kumar Gupta, UTV Motion Pictures’ SpotBoy will now be producing Iranian director Majid Majidi’s next film to be shot extensively in India.
Majidi, the director of films like Baran, and The Colour of Paradise, is the only Iranian director to date to have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for Children of Heaven. Majidi is also the winner of more than 30 awards at various film festivals.
Majidi says, “I had always wanted to make a film in the East, especially in India given its many cultural similarities with Iran. Over the last several years I’ve visited India many times and begun to research a new film project here. When UTVM offered to become involved in a project, I accepted because I felt it would be a great opportunity to make new strides in international artistic and humanist cinema.â€
SpotBoy creative and business head Vikas Bahl adds “It will be wonderful to work with a stimulating international director of repute such as Majid Majidi who through insightful movie making brings his characters to life. His films, which are a reflection of life, transcend all language and geographical boundaries and are truly world-movies. These associations also help us bring diverse projects within the same studio through different brands. We look forward to collaborating with world’s best by providing these creative minds a world platform from which to showcase their immense talent.â€
Majidi received the ‘Best Asian Director Award” at the Mumbai Film Festival held in October 2006. He is also the recipient of several awards at the Montréal World Film Festival, Oslo Films from the South Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival to name a few. He is one of five international film directors to be invited by the Chinese government to participate in Vision Beijing Film Project, which introduces the city of Beijing in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
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