ifilm exclusive with Vishka Asayesh

Iran famed actress Vishka Asayesh sits for an exclusive interview with ifilm, talking about acting in Cinema and Television as well as latest developments in her artistic career.

Vishka Asayesh has a university degree in Scenic Design from London University, the UK.

She became a household name after appearing in historical TV series ‘Imam Ali (AS)’ in 1992. 

She has appeared in ‘The Sorceress’ (1997) ‘Love + 2’ (1998), ‘The Visitor of Rey’ (2000), ‘Ice Flower’ (2004), ‘No Men Allowed’ (2010), ‘Snow on the Pines’ (2011), ‘Thirteen’ (2013), ‘I am Diego Maradona’ (2014), ‘Sperm Whale’ (2015).

Her appearance in ‘No Men Allowed’ (2010) won a Fajr International Film Festival Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2011.

She was just pushing 19 when the actress performed before Davood Mir-Bagheri’s camera and played the role of Ibn Muljam al-Muradi’s lover in the historical series ‘Imam Ali (AS)’. The period series has been selected among IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) A-list TV series produced during the last 37 years with spectacular characterization which the audiences of ‘Imam Ali (AS)’ still recall.

Featured in the impressive series as Qotam, our interviewee took on an Arab woman’s look for her role who conversed in everyday language voiced by a voice actor. In the scenes where the actress playing opposite an actor featuring Ibn Muljam al-Muradi, Asayesh portrayed a historical drama which added more attraction to the storyline of the series for the audience.

The series, also widely known as Qotam series in the 1990s, acted as a spring board for Asayesh. She is one of our capable actresses in Iran.

Below is a rough translation of selected parts from the interview conducted in Persian.

ifilm: Ms. Asayesh, by looking at your on-screen credits,  it seems more evident that you have lately inclined more toward comedic productions and people spot you in films such as ‘Sperm Whale’ ‘The Good, the Bad, the Corny’ and ‘Dracula’. Does this insinuate you have already chosen your line of career and you’re supposed to be known as a comic actress?   

Asayesh: Well, the reality is that, to my mind, no actor can select their career line in one particular genre, saying, “Well, I am supposed to set foot on a given path from tomorrow moving forward with little deviation.” Such viewpoint is wrong given that an actor or for that matter an artist can shine in a series work as well as a comedy. The fact of the matter is an actor is the one who can challenge various characters in a well-performed manner.  I am no exception to such trend. I like playing comic characters as much as I do the serious as well as other roles. I cannot tell you that I am just supposed to appear in comic productions.   

ifilm: Almost everyone knows that how you started your artistic career with ‘Imam Ali (AS)’ series. However, you kept distance and drifted away from the world of Cinema and Television after this TV production, taking a 6-year hiatus from big screen and an 18-year break from the small screen. This is while, we expected to see more on-screen works from you.

Asayesh: After shooting for the series ‘Imam Ali (AS)’, I went to the UK to further my studies and was not in Iran for almost five years. Eventually, I couldn’t take on a new project. Even I remember that after appearing in the series, I had several acting offers coming my way, though all the offers were a repeat of ‘Qotam’ role. I did not want to repeat myself at all. I had no appeal in that whatsoever. I reached to the point that I decided if a good acting offer didn’t pop up, I wouldn’t play in any work. I preferred to take care of my personal life and quit acting. Later on, I was offered acting in ‘The Sorceress’ movie. I liked my role acting as a doll in the film, managing to perform my role with a great deal of rehearsals. I experienced another pause for several years in acting after the movie, though.

After appearing in several movies such as ‘Maturity’ and ‘Ice Flower’ which can be described as no-special events for you just like ‘Imam Ali (AS)’ series and ‘The Sorceress’ film--as both “took off” well--you played a much different role in  ‘No Men Allowed’.

Asayesh: Yes, I remember that I didn’t work for four years and out of the blue I was offered to work in a project with Rambod Javan and Reza Attarn. The role I play in the film was way too attractive for me since as I told you earlier, I did not like to appear in repeated roles when people know me with a particular role. As you said, my otherwise good roles before ‘No Men Allowed’ were no special events for me, this film, however, for me and the audience were special; just a new start for me.

ifilm: You played in six TV series among which four were historical. Have got an interest in historical projects?

Asayesh: Historical projects really have been and are appealing to me; from the clothes I wear to the horse riding which I learn while acting roles in such series. Another reason might be that since I got my start with ‘Imam Ali (AS)’ series which was a historical work and a good memory for me, I look at such historical projects through that lens.   

ifilm: And ‘The Recluse’ was your first non-historical work…

Asayesh: Yes, that was my first and one of my good experiences.   That was again a different role, the role of a serious and inflexible woman, different from my real character. The moment I read the script for the series, I realized it would be a hit given that the screenplay was a social-familial one, totally different from what I had in hand at that time.  

AG/AG