Director: Mohamad Ali Fardin
Cast: Mohamad Ali Fardin, Azar Shiva, Naser Malek Motiee, Ali Miri, Hamide Kheyrabadi
Ghasre Zarin is a 1969 Iranian drama-romance film directed by and starring Mohamad Ali Fardin, set against the class tensions of mid-century Tehran. A wealthy patriarch's pride drives his sons away, leaving him alone in his golden palace to reckon with what money cannot buy.
What is Ghasre Zarin about?
A proud and wealthy man discovers that both of his grown sons have quietly married women from humble, working-class backgrounds. Refusing to accept these unions, he issues an ultimatum — and both sons choose their wives over their father's fortune. Left alone in his grand estate, the patriarch slowly confronts the silence his arrogance has created. The film follows what happens when a man used to commanding every room finds himself without an audience, without family warmth, and with plenty of time to measure the true weight of his choices.
Cast & crew
Mohamad Ali Fardin — the beloved icon of Iranian popular cinema in the 1960s and 1970s — takes both the director's chair and the lead role, playing the proud patriarch with a blend of authority and slowly crumbling dignity. Azar Shiva and Naser Malek Motiee bring warmth to the younger generation, while Ali Miri, Hamide Kheyrabadi, and Katayun Amir Ebrahimi round out a cast drawn from the era's most recognizable faces.
Context & significance
Made at the height of pre-revolution Iranian popular cinema, Ghasre Zarin belongs to a tradition of social melodramas that used family conflict to examine class pride and the limits of wealth. For the Iranian diaspora, films from this era carry a particular weight — they capture a Tehran and a social world that no longer exist in the same form. Watching Fardin onscreen is itself a kind of cultural time travel: he was the defining screen presence of his generation, and his double role here as director and star reflects the creative confidence of that golden period in Persian film.
Where & how to watch
Ghasre Zarin is available to stream on K-Time in its original Persian audio. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Subscribe and cancel anytime.