Director: عباس احمدی مطلق
Cast: ایرج طهماسب ، حمید جبلی ، هما روستا ، ژاله صامتی ، ریما رامین فر ، مهدی باطبی ، الناز حبیب پور ، محمد بحرانی و …
Rafigh-e Bad (رفیق بد) is a 2007 Iranian comedy film directed by Abbas Ahmadi Motlagh, following the reunion of two lifelong friends as one struggles with a psychiatric condition and the other tries to rekindle their shared past through storytelling.
What is Rafigh-e Bad about?
Habib returns to Iran after years abroad and goes to visit his old friend Aziz, who is now a patient in a psychiatric facility. Aziz is unresponsive — he neither speaks nor recognizes the man who once meant the world to him. On the advice of the attending physician, Habib begins recounting stories from their shared history in the hope that familiar memories will reach Aziz wherever he has withdrawn. The film unfolds as a series of recollections: the two men grew up together, forged a bond that lasted through school and into adulthood, and eventually wound up working side by side at the same bank. Each story Habib tells peels back another layer of a friendship marked by loyalty, mischief, and the ordinary comedy of two people who were always better together than apart.
Cast & crew
The film is directed by Abbas Ahmadi Motlagh and brings together a roster of familiar faces from Iranian popular cinema. The ensemble includes Iraj Tahmasb, Hamid Jabali, Homa Rousta, Zhaleh Sameti, Rima Raminifar, Mehdi Batabi, Elnaz Habibpour, and Mohammad Bahrani, a cast well-suited to the comedic and sentimental rhythms the story demands.
Context & significance
Iranian comedy films rooted in male friendship have a long and well-loved place in the country's popular cinema, and Rafigh-e Bad sits comfortably within that tradition. For diaspora viewers, the premise carries particular resonance: the friend who returns from years away to find that time has reshaped everything — and the one left behind who can no longer be reached. The film uses the flashback structure to deliver warmth and gentle humor while also touching on loneliness and the fragility of connection. It is the kind of Persian-language comedy that travels well precisely because its emotional core is universal, even as the cultural texture — the banter, the workplace camaraderie, the stubborn loyalty — is distinctly Iranian.
Where & how to watch
Rafigh-e Bad is available on K-Time with the original Persian audio. Watch on any browser, your TV, or your phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, and no extra download needed. Start or cancel your subscription anytime.