Director: Mostafa Taghizadeh
Cast: Bahram Afshari, Sara Bahrami, Houman Barghnavard, Shabnam Ghorbani, Ladan Zhaveh Vand
Sale Gorbeh is a 2024 Iranian comedy film directed by Mostafa Taghizadeh, starring Bahram Afshari as a man whose very birth year carries a peculiar curse that puts everyone around him at risk whenever the Year of the Cat rolls around again on the Persian calendar.
What is Sale Gorbeh Moviei about?
Jahangir is a man who came into the world under an unusual sign: he was born in the Year of the Cat, and each time that year returns in the twelve-year Persian zodiac cycle, misfortune descends—not on him, but on everyone close to him. His own fortunes seem charmed while friends, family, and neighbors find themselves stumbling into one mishap after another. The film traces what happens when Jahangir finally recognizes the pattern and must decide whether to warn the people he loves or try to outrun a calendar he cannot change. The resulting chaos mixes slapstick, domestic comedy, and moments of genuine unease as the people around him scramble to survive yet another feline year.
Cast & crew
Bahram Afshari leads as Jahangir, bringing the physical and verbal comedic range the role demands. Sara Bahrami, Houman Barghnavard, Shabnam Ghorbani, Ladan Zhaveh Vand, Noushin Tabrizi, Reza Rashidpour, and Morteza Taghizadeh round out an ensemble well-practiced in the rhythms of Persian situational comedy. Director Mostafa Taghizadeh coordinates the large cast through escalating set-pieces built on misunderstanding and timing.
Context & significance
The Persian solar calendar assigns an animal to each year in a twelve-year cycle borrowed from the Chinese zodiac, and the Year of the Cat (Sal-e Gorbeh) holds a particular place in Iranian folk superstition — some consider it unpredictable, others unlucky. Sale Gorbeh plays directly with that shared cultural memory, turning the calendar itself into a comic engine. For diaspora audiences who grew up hearing Nowruz greetings name the incoming animal, the premise lands with an immediacy that needs no translation. The film belongs to a long tradition of Iranian ensemble comedies that use one high-concept premise to expose family dynamics and social anxieties, inviting laughter at the collective dread of fate.
Where & how to watch
Sale Gorbeh is available on K-Time with Persian audio (original language) and a Persian dub. Stream it on your browser, Android TV, or phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and you can cancel anytime.