Although Shahrzad’s TV series ended shortly with the last part of its third season, people still talk about it. So, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on this fascinating and historic series:
The series is a romantic and historical TV arrangement directed by Hassan Fathi, highlighted by most famous Iranian actresses: Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidousti, Ali Nasirian and Mostafa Zamani. It is a love story set admit the 1950s.
Shahrzad has been the costliest and the greatest Iranian television series that relates a love story in Old Tehran in the era of Shah. Hassan Fathi, director and author of the series has also made a lot of TV series which have been welcomed by Iranian people.
Now the story:
Shahrzad (Taraneh Alidousti) is the educated and intelligent daughter of one of Bozorg Agha’s henchmen. She is a graduate of medicine in the best university of Iran, in the era that women had no access to higher education. She loves Farhad. Both families are aware of their love for each other and are expecting their marriage in the near future. But during the coup chaos, Farhad accidentally gets into an inconvenience that ends up with him in jail. Shahrzad asks Bozorg Agha for help and he sets a condition. He agrees to save Farhad only if Shahrzad would break her engagement with him, becomes the second wife of Bozorg Agha’s nephew, Ghobad, and give birth to the inheritor of the Divan Sallar’s Family.
Mostafa Zamani plays Farhad’s role, a lover and a journalist who has been ousted from college, for his political exercises. During the coup on August 18, 1953, he accidentally kills a rioter. He then gets arrested and sentenced to death because of political issues. While awaiting execution, he gets freed with the assistance of Bozorg Agha who utilizes the impact he has among the overthrow heads. After getting released, he still loves Shahrzad, and hears about her marriage with the nephew of Bozorg Agha. He doesn’t have the slightest idea why his beloved Shahrzad would stoop to such a marriage. But, he couldn’t find the real reason of Shahrzad’s marriage.
The powerful Iranian actress Shahab Hosseini has a complicated character in the role of Ghobad. His past is unclear. He appears to be Bozorg Agha’s nephew and to keep him under his own wings, Bozorg Agha has married his own daughter Shirin, to him. Ghobad is hopeless and extremely unhappy with his marriage. He finds nothing in common with his cousin and now his wife. The casino he manages is all that keeps him going. To forget his lifeless marriage, he buries himself in drinking and smoking every night. Initially, he accepts Bozorg Agha’s offer to marry Shahrzad to bring an heir to the family, just like he would follow any other of his orders without question. But as soon as he lays eyes on Shahrzad at the wedding ceremony for the first time, he falls desperately in love with her.
Shirin is the only daughter of Bozorg Agha who has survived the car accident which killed her family. She doesn’t care about others as a rich girl. She is married to Ghobad whom she loves wholeheartedly, with respect to her father’s wish. However, she doesn’t like Ghobad’s behavior and temper. Her biggest weak point is her fertility problems, which she would not accept. Instead, she puts the blame on her husband. Shirin is put through trauma once Ghobad and Shahrzad are married. She does not put any effort to get rid of Shahrzad as she knows Ghobad loves her. Parinaz Izadyar plays Shirin in the series.
All Iranians know Ali Nasirian as one of the best actresses in the history of Iranian cinema. Now, he plays as Bozorg Agha in Shahrzad series, a real godfather who has a strong role in the country’s political events. He is similar to Don Corleone in “The Godfather” with the same characteristics. He has a great influence on the imperial court of the King of Iran, as he can either save a person convicted to death penalty or order to kill others. Bozorg Agha had lost his wife and two sons in a car accident couple of years ago. The only survivor from the accident is Shirin and his nephew Ghobad, a married couple, are his only inheritors to keep the Divan Sallar’s wealth. However, Shirin and Ghobad are not a happy couple. Shirin suffers from fertility problems and Ghobad is not quite fond of this marriage. Bozorg Agha is pretty concerned about his daughter’s married life and the future of his family.
Eventually, the series ends with the death of Ghobad and Shirin’s succession to the Department of Family Affairs, but the director leaves Shahrzad and Farhad’s love story in a halo of obscurity for the viewer. This makes this one of the most talked about Iranian tv series!
