Director: Dariush Mehrjui

Cast: Amir Ali Danaei, Mahtab Keramati, Homayoun Ershadi, Hasan Ma'juni, Mehdi Soltani

Ashbah is a 2014 Iranian social melodrama directed by Dariush Mehrjui, loosely inspired by Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts. Running 95 minutes, the film examines cycles of power, secrets, and moral consequence across two generations of an Iranian family.

What is Ashbah about?

A domineering general rules his household with cruelty, abusing both his wife and the young maid who serves them. When the wife uncovers a secret affair between her husband and the maid, she expels the young woman without knowing she carries a child. Time passes. The general dies, and the next generation inherits not just property but the unresolved sins of the past. New lives, new aspirations, and new tensions emerge — yet the shadows cast by one man's selfishness stretch far beyond his lifetime, shaping the fates of those who never chose to bear them.

Cast & crew

Veteran director Dariush Mehrjui helms the film, drawing on his decades-long role as a founder of Iranian New Wave cinema. Lead actress Mahtab Keramati and the celebrated Homayoun Ershadi anchor the dramatic weight, joined by Hasan Ma'juni, Mehdi Soltani, Amir Ali Danaei, and Melika Sharifinia in supporting roles that flesh out the generational divide.

Context & significance

Mehrjui is one of the architects of Iranian New Wave cinema, a movement that transformed Persian filmmaking from the 1960s onward with its blend of literary adaptation and unflinching social observation. Ashbah arrives late in his career as a stylised, flamboyant piece — striking in its theatrical visual language. For diaspora viewers, the film offers a lens on class, gender, and inherited shame inside a traditional Iranian household, themes that resonate across generations regardless of where you live. Its Ibsen roots give international cinephiles a familiar skeleton, while the Iranian social fabric gives it a texture entirely its own.

Where & how to watch

Ashbah is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on the web, your TV, or your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, no extra download required. Cancel anytime.