Interview with Anil Mehta on " Beyond the Clouds " 4th Draft.

In India cinemascope is most prevalent shooting format for the feature films but “Beyond
the cloud” is shot on 1.85 comment

Let's just say that the 2.35:1 aspect ratio is given in India because the distribution and
exhibition chains are all committed to 2.35:1 and our audience are happy with that format.
We just got used to it so we end up shooting all our films in 2.35: 1.
Even though Beyond the Clouds has action sequences, the fact is that Majidi films are
always deeply personal and very close to the characters and what is going on their minds.
So for me, it was definitely not suitable for the 2.35 aspect ratio. When I told the producers,
they were also very happy with the idea because Majidi’s films are also intended for
international exposures and not just Indian release. Keeping all these factors in mind
everybody seemed to think that it was a good idea to shoot 1.85 and it also came from
Majidi sir himself.

The brothel sequence was shot on location in a congested area, how did you manage to
light up that kind of situation?

Most of the locations in this film are in congested areas. The house was a very small space.
Even Dhobi Ghat itself, is a very crowded and congested area, although it looked like a big
expanse in the film. It was very tight to navigate in those spaces so that was a challenge in
the film. We were going to be in crowded areas and very narrow alleys like Chor Bazar. So
you have to find ways of negotiating for each and every location.
Lighting the apartment was tricky. When we were on location and we were selecting the
house, Majidi sir had an idea that one wall would be made breakable and we would pull it
away for shooting space. And I said that it was not necessary.
When we had time in the location I was happy to work within them and found solutions for
it. So the brothel sequence likewise was basically pretty much in the first shot only. You
would see everything: ground floor, first floor, second-floor continuous pan on the corridor
coming into the room. It’s like almost a 360-degree view of the entire location in one shot.
In these days, at least, I find myself lighting more with practical’s than with the artificial
light. There is a little bit of skylight space in that building. After creating that ambiance,
pretty much everything else is practical’s in the room. There might be a 300W or a 600W
really small fixture or a small Kino Flo hidden somewhere, (like a 2 / 4 bank Kino Flo), but
other than that nothing else. Actually, you have to minimize the lighting by taking away
most of the large fixtures for my lighting patterns.

The sequence when Ishaan Khatter is being chased by the police, he enters in a huge car
garage with a high ceiling. One notices that there was a kind of a shaft of the light coming
from the top. Was it a time of the day or was it artificially lit from the top of the Top?

We had to pick the time of the day because accessing that roof needed large cranes and
that was not a part of the scheme of this film. In spite of being a big production, we had
certain limitations to work with. With the director and with the AD team we worked out
specific hours of the day when we would be shooting these scenes and that's how we
managed it. It's a very popular Bombay location called Mukesh Mills in which the art
director set up the entire garage and then we created those little opening in the ceiling by
just picking out the tiles. One brave art department guy went up and picked out some of the
terracotta tiles and I remember standing at the location and telling him to take out 2 tiles
from here, 3 from there…. There was also some welding going on in that area so some
smoke was inherent in the set and some we added with the usual smoke machine and loban
combination.

In the chasing sequences of the film, there were various fast frontal camera movements
which is very risky. How did you manage to execute it smoothly?

It was an extremely narrow lane called “Panwala Gali “in Chor Bazar. It’s not the only one,
there were a couple of such lanes where we had done Steadicam movements. Basically, you
need to have a very athletic Steadicam operator and I chose Mr. XYZ, who is perfect. He
was a very big asset to this film. In most of the chase sequences, we put him in really tough
situations. Sometimes he would be sitting on the back of the motorcycle, sometimes he was
just plain running. Sometimes on the railway platform, he would be on a push cart and the
grips pushing the pushcart. In narrow alleys, he was just running back and it worked both
ways. The shot is cut from the rear and the front also but the front was more difficult to
execute.

In the Dhobi Ghat location, in a long shot, you see many peach color bed sheets hanging.
Was it a real location?

Those were a special setup created in the big open yard in Versova village. Some of the
property around the Dhobi Ghat area had been acquired by the builders, so their open
clothes drying areas were already gone away. We first intended to shoot at Dhobi Ghat in an
open place and later realized that the property belonged to some builder and he was doing
some demolition there. So the cues came from the real location,and the rest was set up.

There is a scene where there is an argument between the brother and sister when they are
seen for the first time in the house. The sister is kept in a bluish lighting and the boy is in a
warmish tone so what was the idea behind that?

It comes from within the situation. The fact is that the room in which she goes into, there is
no light on and the room in which the boy is standing has some light. So she goes into a very
dark room. It's just a simulation of some ambiance in that room as if some light is coming
from another space like some exterior.
About playing with contrasting color temperatures, I find myself doing it more and more
because it also heightens the dramatic tension so I use it as per the scene that is played. It is
just a self-conscious thing, but it is also driven by the reality of the situation.

Tell us something about the shooting of the Jail Sequence?

The jail was a constructed set. Although we did get permission to shoot in a real jail, it can
get very difficult and tricky and would have taken a lot of time. With Majidi sir directing, it
was not possible for us to go inside the real jail because foreign nationals are not allowed
anywhere near the jail. That was one motivation and the other reason was that his
visualization of a prison was different from what our real prisons are. We don't have so
many individual cells and we don't have bunk beds in our prisons here.
I had experience shooting in real prisons with Sriram's film ‘Badlapur’ but Majidi Sir was very
clear that he wanted it organized like those in Europe or any other country. So we built the
whole jail accordingly.

There is a scene when the boy is hiding in the sister’s place.The man comes from outside, he
sees the slippers outside and goes away and then the Ishan Cry's is heard in a dimly lit with a
rim light only so you cannot see his tears but you only hear him crying in the dark. Was it
your idea or the director vision?

The fact was that we had a very restricted space where he was standing in the corner of the
Room. I used a practical to light the room that switches off when this man comes. So he is
actually in the darkness standing in the corner of the room. It is a very emotional and an
evocative moment, so it was a struggle to find the placement of the light hence I had to
spend some time thinking about it.
I had set up this cross light on his face without any fill and the director was happy with the
effect, so I just let it play like that. It depends on the moment to moment, how the scene is
playing out. And then, finally an interesting interplay happened and Ishaan actually leaned
back when he was weeping and rested his head on the wall. So, the play of the light became
even more interesting After the shot was over, Majidi-sir was really happy. We have to stop
believing that it is always about the actors' eyes. Because the light itself can have an
expression and that can also be quite sensitive.

When Ishaan Khatter is frustrated, he comes and throws the pigeons in a congested room.In
that room, there was only one big window which was the main source of light Did you use
artificial light to increase the ambiance lighting level?

It was an overcast day so we did use one ‘6k‘ HMI coming from the window from a distance
and there was a little fill also given in that room.

In the last Holi sequence in the film ends, one gets to see the gulal flying.
Was it a time of the day or it was an artificial light that was used for the streak of gulal to be
seen?

This was all natural light and we had to time it properly, since we were shooting close to
that location. Actually, it was linked to the hospital and we were able to study the time of
day when this thing would be most effective. So, we picked the time of day and we shot it.
The lighting was planned but it was all natural light.
Since most of it is shot outside did you find anything challenging despite your experience for
more than 30 years?

Actually, every shoot throws up a new challenge and we have to find its specific solutions,
that’s for sure. Even in this film also, as I said earlier, Majidi wanted it to be in difficult
spaces. At first, I didn’t think that a Steadycam operator would be able to run through with
any degree of safety. We brought him in and we showed him the space and I asked him if he
needed any device or some kind of a push / pull cart or if he needed to do some
improvisation. He said that he would manage it by running on foot only.

In the film, the tracking shot on the railway platform with the boy running at full speed to
catch a running train is not an easy shot to execute. Consequently, we had to come up with
this push kart idea, though we did not get it in the first attempt. So, we had to go back and
redo it.

I would like you to comment on the sequence when his friend ditches him and where he is
counting the currency notes and then two goons are seen beating him?

That is one sequence in which the VFX has been extensively used. It was not safe for the
boys to go into that slushy area so we built a wooden platform on which they could do all
the action so that they wouldn't get drowned. The slush was added and of course, the birds
were multiplied using CGI. The reason why we went to that location was because of the way
the director wanted the flamingos to behave. Real flamingos don't behave in that manner,
so we took the liberty of doing CG work.

Any other specific scene where the CG is done?

Not the usual way, but we had to place the moon behind the clouds and the moon is
derived by shot material only, but it's done with CG because we had to put those clouds
and the placement of the moon against the tree.

Did you have some specific camera choice used for this film?

My package remains quite simple.I have been repeating the SONY F 65 with master prime
lenses as my basic kit and the Angénieux 24 to 290 mm sits in the kit but I use it rarely.
I use the master prime and ultra prime lenses. F 65 has always been my favorite camera but
now it's become difficult to use it because it's gone out of manufacturing and only a few
cameras are left. I have already shot the new film Sui Dhaaga on the Panasonic VariCam.

As the DI plays an important role, did you carry out some DI test before you started
shooting?

Actually more than me, Majidi sir was keen to see how the film looks because he was
shooting digital for the first time and he was really skeptical.
So I ran some tests to show him the texture and tonalities which can still look Filmic in a
way. For that reason, I also carried out some tests. We shot something on the location with
real people so that Majidi sir could get the idea of the skin tone and the texture of the place.
After the grading, I showed it to him and he seemed quite happy with that. In fact after the
grading of the film he sat and watched the whole film in one go and he was visibility very
impressed with the output.

Anything specific that you would like to add?

When you work with a foreign director in India like Majidi sir, there is a language problem.
We always spoke through an interpreter.
Secondly, a person who is from outside this country, looks at this country with a slightly
different vision. That was both interesting and problematic for the film. If you try and argue
that Dhobi Ghat and Sassoon dock area are not necessarily tied up geographically with
Versova village thrown in the middle, it's not an argument that cuts any ice with him. It
does not matter to him. His vision is colored in a different way from how our people see this
country in reality.That is one thing that was interesting while working with him.
The way western directors write or deal with drama is different from the way we write and
deal with drama, so that too was fascinating.
For example with all the characters in "Beyond the Clouds", the moral dilemma and the
moral questions keep on opening up and he keeps playing with them irrespective of the fact
whether the situation is solved or not. Each character has his phase of good and bad so it is
not a clear demarcation of good vs evil. It is always like a moral dilemma playing out now
when I view the whole film, I find that riveting as storytelling.