Majidi and I belong to elite society, says Rahman

Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman says he and Iranian auteur Majid Majidi belong to an elite society as they both have got fatwas.

The Oscar-winning composer brought back the memories of the time when fatwa was issued against the duo in 2015 for "Muhammad: The Messenger of God", the movie on the life of Prophet Muhammed, when he got onto the stage to talk about their next collaboration "Beyond The Clouds" at the first day of the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here on Monday.

"It is great to be here. It feels very unusual and extraordinary to be standing here, working with an Iranian filmmaker who is internationally known. He is a great human being and a very courageous person. We both have got fatwas, we are a very elite society here," Rahman said.

Helmed by Majidi, "Beyond The Clouds" marks the debut of Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan. Rahman has given music to the story which is centred around a brother-sister relationship.

"I want to wish Ishaan, Malvika and the whole crew good luck. It was a great honour working with Vishal Bhardwaj."

Bhardwaj has penned Hindi dialogues of the film, which had its India premiere on the opening day on Monday.