Goutam Ghose: “I do not desire to act at all, though I agreed to act in Beyond the Clouds”

By Jyothi Venkatesh

The internationally renowned filmmaker Goutam Ghose who was awarded as the Most Outstanding Director this year at the PIFF 2024 had made his debut as a documentary filmmaker with the documentary– New Earth in 1973 followed by Hungry Autumn which won him the main award at the Oberhausen Film Festival. Besides various documentaries, the unassuming Goutam has since made over ten feature films including Maa Bhoomi, Antarjali Yatra, Padma Nadir Majhi, Patang, Abar Aranye, Gudia, Kaalbela and Moner Manush and has also acted in Majid Majidi’s film Beyond the Clouds.

How did the offer to act in Majidi’s film Beyond the Clouds come to you?

Majid Majidi is one filmmaker I like very much. I have admired several of his films over the years. When Honey Trehan, who is a renowned casting director in Mumbai approached me with the proposal that Majid Majidi, whom I have known for a long time, was keen on casting me in an important character in the narrative of his film, I was flabbergasted because though I was keen on being a part of his film, I was committed to my own film which was to start around the same time.

Go on!

Luckily for me, the schedule of my film was postponed, and I found myself free to devote time to act in Majidi’s film. It is no doubt a small role but quite an important one, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say No when Majidi Sir told me that he would be happy if I were to play that role in his film. The film also featured Shahid Kapoor’s younger brother Ishaan Khattar.

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How was the crew of Majid Majidi?

The crew from Tehran and the unit from India acted together as brothers of the same family and it was wonderful shooting for Majidi’s film. Majidi is very sweet and sincere as a director on the sets. Though he used to allow us a lot of room to improvise on the scenes, he was at the same time also very particular about the way he took the shots. What I liked the best about Majidi Sir is that he himself understands acting as well.

How was the experience of acting for an Iranian director like Majid Majidi, who is an Oscar nominee too?

As a director myself, I have handled all kinds of actors – good, bad, stars as well as non-stars and also non-actors. The most important thing you should keep in mind is that you should be able to be friendly with your actors and understand the actors’ limitations, their good and bad qualities. There is no formula to handle actors. The actors have to interpret their characters as per their director’s vision.

Do you plan to take up acting too as a profession?

No. I am happy with my vocation as a filmmaker and am not at all interested in taking up offers to act in films as my profession as I feel that acting per se is altogether a different ball game.

What next as a director?

I am all set to launch an Indo-Italian co-production called Parikrama in Hindi. I plan to shoot my film in Mumbai as well as Madhya Pradesh and an Island in South Italy extensively.