Director: Dariush Mehrjui
Cast: Khosro Shakibai, Leila Hatami, Ezzatolah Entezami, Gohar Kheyrandish, Ali Mosaffa
Mix is a 2000 Iranian family-sports film directed by Dariush Mehrjui, one of Iran's most celebrated auteurs. The story follows a young woman's complicated return to competitive ping pong after years away from the sport, weaving personal loss and emotional resilience into a surprisingly playful premise.
What is Mix about?
Once a gifted ping pong prodigy trained by her disciplinarian mother, Tamiko abandoned the sport after her mother's death, trading the strict rhythms of competition for a quieter, unremarkable life. When a romantic betrayal at her workplace leaves her adrift, she walks away from her job and travels back to the town where she grew up — the same place her mother once ran a ping pong club. Fate adds an unexpected twist: the man who wronged her has taken up the sport through his company's club. Stung and determined, Tamiko picks up the paddle again, channeling years of buried training and fresh anger into a second shot at the table. The film follows her rekindled drive with warmth and a light touch of comedy.
Cast & crew
Director Dariush Mehrjui brings his signature humanist sensibility to this lighter-toned project. The cast includes Khosro Shakibai and Leila Hatami — two of Iranian cinema's most respected performers — alongside Ezzatolah Entezami, Gohar Kheyrandish, Ali Mosaffa, Ferdous Kaviani, Mohammadreza Sharifinia, and Omid Roohani, giving the ensemble real depth.
Context & significance
Dariush Mehrjui is a pillar of Iranian New Wave cinema, known for films that illuminate everyday lives with compassion and subtle wit. Mix represents a more playful side of his voice — a sports-and-family picture that still carries his hallmark focus on ordinary people navigating personal crossroads. For diaspora viewers who grew up watching serious Iranian drama, this film offers a gentler, warmer entry point: a story about rivalry, grief, and second chances told through the universal language of sport. It sits comfortably alongside other Iranian family films that foreground female agency and the long shadow that parental relationships cast on adult life.
Where & how to watch
Mix is available on K-Time in its original audio. No VPN is required and there is no geo-blocking — you can watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone. Subscribe with a single account and cancel anytime.