Iranian cinema critics honor Akbar Abdi

The 13th edition of the Celebration of Iranian Cinema Critics and Screenwriters has paid tribute to the popular comedian Akbar Abdi on Thursday night.

Iranian actor and director Iraj Tahmasb went on stage during the celebration ceremony and talked about the comedian saying “Speaking about some people is an honor. No one has played so many different roles before and after the revolution. We have brilliant actors, but they didn’t play so many different roles.”

Receiving his honor on stage, Abdi slammed the US president Donald Trump and said “I hope no war happens; event in the US. We are not such stupid as Trump. I hope for constant peace and happiness.”

Born in 1960, Abdi began acting in amateur plays after finishing high school in 1980.

He shot to fame by appearing in TV series such as ‘Boro Bia Neighborhood’ in 1982 and ‘I’m Late for school Again’ in 1986.

Abdi appeared in comedies such as ‘Major Mayhem’, ‘The Man Who Became a Mouse’, ‘The Tenants’, ‘The Grand Cinema’ and ‘O’ Iran’.

The actor has appeared in more than 120 movies and series.

He appeared in movies such as ‘Doll Thief’, ‘Nassereddin Shah Film Actor’, ‘The Devoted’, ‘Angel Day’, ‘A Gift from India’, ‘Mr. Lucky’, ‘Snowman’, ‘The Sunny Man’, ‘The Loser’, ‘Night of the Fox’, ‘The Eagle’s Eye’, ‘The Victorious Warrior’, ‘The Rich and the Poor’, ‘The Outcasts’, ‘Flying Crow’, ‘Checkmate’, ‘The Outcast 2’, ‘Heartbroken’, ‘The Extremists’, ‘The First Condition’, ‘The Outcasts 3’, ‘The President’s Cell Phone’, ‘Stingy’, ‘The Wrong Story’, ‘Scandal’, ‘The Backstreets of Shemroon’, ‘Operation Kindergarten ’, and 'The Ascended'.

Abdi has also acted in series such as ‘Hygiene Neighborhood’, ‘Imam Ali’, ‘Night of the Fox’, ‘Godfather’, ‘As Simple As That’, ‘Under the City Sky 3’, ‘Lost Innocence’, ‘In the Eye of the Storm’, ‘Era of Constitutional Revolution’, ‘Open Parenthesis’, ‘Wake Up’, ‘Passion to Fly’, ‘Relatively Bad Guys’ and ‘The Ascended’.

Abdi’s flexibility allows him to take on diverse roles such as the role of a child and middle-aged man in ‘The Magical Journey and a mentality-disabled boy in ‘Mother’ as well as playing roles of a man and a woman in ‘Snowman’.

He has won numerous awards, notably for his appearance in ‘Mother’ (1989) and ‘I’m Sleepy’ (2012) which won him the Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor in a Supporting Role from Fajr International Film Festival.

Directed by Jafar Goudarzi, the 13th Iran film critics and screenwriters gala was slated for January 30, 2020 in Tehran.

MG/AG