First New Year’s film blockbuster hit on Iran screens

Festivities for the Persian New Year (known as Norouz) have kicked off with a screening of the film ‘The Good, the Bad, the Gaudy’.

The debut film by comedy screenwriter Peyman Qasemkhani has screened during the honorable Norouz festivities (Persian New Year) in the Iranian capital city of Tehran on Wednesday.

With the end of the 35th Fajr Film Festival (FFF), which concluded last week, a number of movies welcomed by the audiences were speculated to be the possible choices for Norouz screenings.

However, the showing of Qasemkhani’s comedy started five weeks ahead of the beginning of the Persian New Year (starting March 21).

The cast of the highly anticipated comedy includes Hamid Farokhnejad, Pejman Jamshidi, Sam Derakhshani, Vishka Asayesh, Amir-Mehdi Jule, Azadeh Samadi and Niusha Zeighami, among others.

‘The Good, the Bad, the Gaudy’ tells the tale of a movie director who is under pressure from his film producer to use “two money-making actors” who he believes are the worst choice for his film, but will help sell the movie.

Qasemkhani is best known for the comic scripts as he has written around 30 films and series, with particular collaboration with the popular comedian and director Mehran Modiri in the series  ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’, Mozaffar’s Garden’, ‘Nights of Barareh’ and ‘Tiptoe’.

The director has also acted in films such as ‘Sensitive Floor’ and ‘Saint Petersburg’.

Iran has witnessed a booming year so far for its local cinema industry, as the overall sale of movies has grossed over $40 million - a record-breaking amount - and more than double the total sales in the previous year.

Norouz screenings usually fetch high sales for films, as most of the people have a two-week long holiday, which gives them ample opportunity to spend some time at cinemas and other recreational venues.

Three films, out of the total six, have so far screened for this year’s New Year celebrations, earning over $3 million in the box-office, a unique record in the history of Iranian cinema.

‘The Good, the Bad, the Gaudy’ was the second best film by viewer’s choice at the 35th FFF and was also approved by many critics as a comedy with a flawless script and fine performances.

The film is expected to become one of the highest grossing movies of the upcoming calendar year.

AI/AI