Iranian cine star Mohammadreza Golzar has signed a contract to be the first actor set to play in ‘Salaam Mumbai’, the first joint production between Iran and Bollywood after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The permit was issued for the movie in the previous Iranian year (ended March 20). However, following problems in the agreement between the two sides, producer Hasan Dadkhah quit the project and it took a while for the new producer, Javad Noruzbeigi, to restart the production.
Casting has started for the film which is a mix of Iranian and Indian cast and crew. Golzar recently joined the production team, ISNA reported.
Born in Tehran, Golzar, 38, gained fame as guitarist of the Iranian music band, Arian Band, before starting his acting career. In 2000, he was invited to act in ‘Sam and Narges’ by the late director Iraj Ghaderi.
He has since acted in 26 movies, most of which did well at the box office. His ‘Atomic Heart’ directed by Ali Ahmadzadeh, was an entry at the international competition section of the 17th Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (BAFICI) and the forum section of the 2015 Berlinale.
‘Salaam Mumbai’ will be directed by Ghorbanifar Mohamadpur, who has previously directed three movies in Iran. Together with Noruzbeigi, he made a trip to India to hold talks with Indian producer Pahlaj Nihalani.
Negotiations
‘Motion Pictures’, an Indian company, has started negotiations with Indian actors suggested by the Iranian side, and is expected to finalize the contracts in few days.
Last year a tacit agreement was made with prominent actress Aishwarya Rai to act in the film; however, that is not certain.
As an international production, 80% of the film will be shot in India and the remaining in Iran.
Typical Bollywood films contain song and dance, not allowed in Iranian movies. The joint production will please mostly its Indian audience, yet in a new way. Four music videos have been designed for the film. Famous Indian singer Sonu Nigam will sing the clips.
The movie tells the story of an Iranian university student in Bombay studying medicine, who falls in love with a rich Indian girl, but the girl’s family opposes their marriage, causing massive upheavals in their lives.
It will be Noruzbeigi’s 20th film as a producer. He has the acclaimed movie ‘Melbourne’ in his resume, which garnered several awards at international film festivals last year.
October 7 is set for the start of shooting in India and the editing will be done simultaneously so that the film gets ready for its debut screening in the Fajr Film Festival in mid-February in Iran.
