Famed Iran comedian cast for new film

Great Iran comedian star Akbar Abdi has been cast as the male lead in ‘Lasagna’ film directed by Hossein Qenaat.

The flick is something of an anomaly on the director's resume, a media report said, adding a few names have appeared for the crew.

'Lasagna’ started shooting a couple of days ago and the lead actor has already appeared in front of Qenaat’s camera.

After finishing high school in 1980, Akbar Abdi began acting in amateur plays.

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

Abdi appeared in comedies such as ‘Major Mayhem’ (1984), ‘The Man Who Became a Mouse’ (1985), ‘The Tenants’ (1986), ‘The Grand Cinema’ (1988) and ‘O’ Iran’ (1989). 

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

He appeared in movies such as ‘Doll Thief’ (1989), ‘Nassereddin Shah Film Actor’ (1991), ‘The Devoted’ (1991), ‘Angel Day’ (1993), ‘A Gift From India’ (1994), ‘Mr. Lucky’ (1994), ‘Snowman’ (1994), ‘The Sunny Man’ (1995), ‘The Loser’ (1995), ‘Night of the Fox’ (1996), ‘The Eagle’s Eye’ (1998), ‘The Victorious Warrior’ (1998), ‘The Rich and the Poor’ (1999), ‘The Outcasts’ (2006), ‘Flying Crow’ (2007), ‘Checkmate’ (2008), ‘The Outcast 2’ (2008), ‘Heartbroken’ (2008), ‘The Extremists’ (2009), ‘The First Condition’ (2009), ‘The Outcasts 3’ (2010), ‘The President’s Cell Phone’ (2011), ‘Stingy’ (2011), ‘The Wrong Story’ (2012), ‘Scandal’ (2012), ‘The Backstreets of Shemroon’ (2012), ‘Kindergarten Operation’ (2012), and 'The Ascended' (2014).

Abdi has also acted in series such as ‘Hygiene Neighborhood’ (1984), ‘Imam Ali’ (1991), ‘Night of the Fox’ (1999), ‘Godfather’ (1999), ‘As Simple As That’ (2000), ‘Under the City Sky 3’ (2002), ‘Lost Innocence’ (2002), ‘In the Eye of the Storm’ (2003-2009), ‘Era of Constitutional Revolution’ (2009), ‘Open Parenthesis’ (2009-2010), ‘Wake Up’ (2011), ‘Passion to Fly’ (2011), ‘Relatively Bad Guys’ (2013) 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’(1986)  and a mentality-disabled boy in ‘Mother’ (1989) as well as playing roles of a man and a woman in ‘Snowman’ (1994).

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.

AG/AG