Turquz Abad is a 2023 Iranian comedy-drama film directed by Ali Shah Hatami, running 91 minutes and named after Turquzabad, a real locality on the southern outskirts of Tehran whose name made international headlines in 2018 over nuclear allegations — a fitting title for a comedy about a man who passes himself off as a nuclear scientist. The story weaves together a tangled web of white lies, social pretense, and the comic fallout that erupts when the truth refuses to stay buried.
What is Turquz Abad about?
Milad is a doctoral student in agriculture who discovers that introducing himself at social gatherings as a nuclear scientist opens doors his real credentials never could. The lie works a little too well: it draws him into the orbit of a mysterious woman named Asal Fotouhi, and from that encounter a chain of complications spills into every corner of his life. As his overlapping cover stories begin colliding with the friends, family and strangers around him, Milad finds himself scrambling to keep his carefully constructed facade intact. What begins as mundane social maneuvering escalates into increasingly absurd situations, exposing the gap between how people present themselves to the world and who they actually are. The film observes its ensemble cast with a warm, ironic eye, building its comedy from the universal human instinct to avoid awkward truths at almost any cost.
About the cast
Director Ali Shah Hatami leads an ensemble headlined by Nima Sha'aban-Nejad as Milad and Anahita Dargahi as the enigmatic Asal Fotouhi, with Mohammad Bohrani, Hooman Hajabdollahi, Majid Mozaffari, Sima Tirandaz, Majid Potki, and Armin Toopchi filling out the broad community portrait that gives the film its social texture.
Context & significance
Iranian ensemble comedies rooted in neighborhood dynamics and everyday pretense have a long tradition in Persian cinema, from the comic realism of earlier decades through to contemporary social satires that use humor to poke at everyday hypocrisy and communal pressure. Turquz Abad sits comfortably in this lineage, offering diaspora viewers a recognizable portrait of the social dynamics many grew up navigating — the pressure to keep up appearances, the intricate dance of politeness and avoidance, the way a single unspoken truth can ripple outward. For Persian-speaking audiences abroad, these stories carry a particular resonance, serving as both nostalgia and gentle comedy of recognition.
Watching Turquz Abad on Ktime
Turquz Abad is available on K-Time with its original Persian audio — no Persian dub or Persian subtitles are included. Stream it on the web, your TV, or your Android phone with no VPN needed and no geo-blocking. Subscribe and cancel anytime.