Beyond the Clouds

A film about a brother and sister, set in Mumbai. Amir is a young man selling drugs on the street. Running from the police he takes shelter in a laundry and there meets his sister Tara, whom he has not seen for years. That same day everything goes wrong. Tara injures a man and goes to prison. Amir starts trying to get her out; the only way is for the injured man to drop the case, and he is in hospital. Amir ends up having to look after his family. That is the idea: to save your sister, you care for the mother and the children of the man who harmed her. The director comes from Iranian cinema and his method is the same here: child characters, everyday detail, and a moral situation built without speeches. The back streets of Mumbai, the laundries and the prison corridors are at the centre. The score is by A. R. Rahman. Ishaan Khatter plays Amir and Malavika Mohanan plays Tara; it is Khatter's first film. Majid Majidi directed. It is his first production made in India. A carefully made example for anyone who likes Indian cinema and slow-paced human drama. For a viewer expecting a fast narrative, the film moves slowly and grants its characters nothing easy.