It's Not That Just Because I Am A Star Kid Someone Was Waiting To Launch Me

- Divya Ramnani

What made you pick Beyond the Clouds?

What actually made me take up this role was the fact that it is a Majid Majidi film, he is an absolute genius and I am a huge fan of his. And I was like, no matter what film he is making, it’s going to be fantastic, so you don’t even have to read the script. But of course after that I read the script and it was brilliant, so it was a win-win situation for me. Aur aisa bhi nahi ki sochna pada ki should I do this or not, it was like a golden opportunity.

What kind of preparations did you go through for this film?

I think the accent came very naturally to me, because I am a Bombay girl and I have grown up here. I have done my schooling and college in Bombay. The typical Bambaiya Hindi came very naturally like abey kya kar raha hai, abey paka mat (laughs) and my character needed exactly that, so the language part was easy. Physically, I had to struggle a lot because majority of my scenes happened in jail. For that sequence, I had 15 days to prepare and I had to lose eight kilos. That was very difficult, I had reduced my diet and water intake so that I could look depressed. And Majidi sir wanted me to look in a very miserable state like have dark circles, visible collarbones… basically someone helpless stuck in prison.

You play Ishaan’s sibling, how is he as a co-star?

He is really good. And he has done his part so nicely and confidently, that nobody can tell that it was his first movie and I was more nervous than him on sets, kyuki meri bhi pehli Hindi picture thi. He was really dedicated, focused and a very energetic co-star and that made my performance easier.

Majid Majidi is known for his unconventional storytelling,  was there any pressure while working with him?