Cinema
دختر لر
Ardeshir Irani · 1933
Synopsis
Golnar, abducted as a child by brigands, serves and dances in a roadside teahouse under the thumb of Qoli Khan, the leader of the gang, who is beginning to look at her differently now that she has grown up. Jafar, an agent sent by the government to put an end to the insecurity of the roads, stops at the teahouse, and the girl falls in love with him. Around them, the film sets the troubled Persia of yesterday against the country that people want to show as changed.
Context
The film was shot in Bombay, at the Imperial Film studio, with an Indian and Parsi crew, from a screenplay by Abdolhossein Sepanta, a Persian writer settled in Bombay, who also plays the role of Jafar and went on to direct four other Persian sound films. It was released in Tehran in the autumn of 1933, at the Mayak and Sepah cinemas, and was an immediate success. Golnar was played by Rouhangiz Saminejad, wife of a studio driver, who ended her life in Tehran under another name. A remake, Jafar and Golnar, was made from it in the seventies.
Who it is for
A Persian-language talkie in black and white, of about an hour and a half, with songs. It is worth knowing that the actors, mostly Parsis from Bombay, speak a regional Persian.
Prizes and reception
The first talking film in the Persian language, it set a record for takings and length of run that was not beaten for several years.