Director: Hassan Fathi
Cast: Parsa Pirouzfar, Shahab Hosseini, İbrahim Çelikkol, Bensu Soral, Boran Kuzum
Maste Eshgh (Drunk on Love) is a 2024 Iranian-Turkish historical drama directed by Hassan Fathi, telling the story of the transformative friendship between the poet Rumi and the wandering mystic Shams of Tabriz — streaming on K-Time with original Persian and Turkish audio.
What is Maste Eshgh about?
Set between the years 640 and 645 of the Islamic lunar calendar, Maste Eshgh follows Jalal ad-Din Rumi during the pivotal years when the dervish Shams of Tabriz arrives in Konya and upends the scholar's ordered world. Their bond — fierce, unconditional, and deeply spiritual — tears Rumi away from his students and family and reshapes his understanding of love and God. The film traces how this unlikely companionship gave birth to some of the most enduring poetry in the Persian literary canon, while also exploring the jealousy and suspicion their closeness provoked in those around them.
The K-Time take
Fathi handles the material with restraint, letting the weight of the subject breathe rather than dramatizing it into spectacle. Hosseini brings an electric stillness to Shams — volatile and serene in the same breath — and Pirouzfar's Rumi convincingly tracks the arc from composed authority to open-hearted surrender. The Iranian-Turkish co-production brings visual richness to the Anatolian setting and gives the story a pan-cultural dimension that mirrors Rumi's own reach across borders.
Cast & crew
Director Hassan Fathi is known for ambitious Iranian historical productions. Shahab Hosseini, one of Iran's most celebrated actors, plays Shams Tabrizi; Parsa Pirouzfar takes the role of Rumi. The ensemble spans both industries, with Turkish stars İbrahim Çelikkol, Hande Erçel, Selma Ergeç, Bensu Soral, and Boran Kuzum joining the cast alongside Iranian actor Hesam Manzour.
Context & significance
Rumi is perhaps the most read Persian poet in the Western world, yet the story of the friendship that sparked his greatest work — his years with Shams Tabrizi — is rarely given serious cinematic treatment. Maste Eshgh fills that gap as an Iranian-Turkish co-production, which itself mirrors the historical reality: Rumi lived in Anatolia, wrote in Persian, and drew disciples from across the medieval Islamic world. For the diaspora, this film is both a touchstone of Persian literary identity and a reminder that the culture's deepest contributions belong to no single border. Its 8.4 on IMDb reflects a broad, cross-cultural audience response.
Where & how to watch
Maste Eshgh is available on K-Time with original Persian and Turkish audio. Watch on the web, your TV, or your phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, and you can cancel anytime.