Director: Ali Zhekan
Cast: Khosro Shakibai, Niki Karimi
Sayeh be Sayeh is a 1997 Iranian crime-drama film directed by Ali Zhekan, starring Khosro Shakibai and Niki Karimi. Set against the backdrop of urban Tehran, the film follows a police officer whose personal life and professional duty collide when a sudden death forces him to confront uncomfortable truths.
What is Sayeh be Sayeh about?
Pourya has spent years building a career on the force and is finally ready to start the next chapter of his life — he is weeks away from marriage. When a close friend is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Pourya cannot set the case aside the way his superiors might prefer. His investigation pulls him deeper into a web of hidden loyalties, past grievances, and secrets that the people around him have worked hard to keep buried. As the truth edges closer to the surface, so does the cost of pursuing it.
Cast & crew
Khosro Shakibai, one of Iranian cinema's most respected dramatic actors, brings an understated intensity to Pourya, grounding the film's tension in quiet, controlled performance. Niki Karimi, a celebrated actress and filmmaker in her own right, provides a strong emotional counterweight. Director Ali Zhekan shapes their dynamic with an eye for restraint over spectacle.
Context & significance
Sayeh be Sayeh arrives in a period when Iranian genre cinema was quietly testing the conventions of the police procedural — a form that domestic audiences recognized but that had rarely been told from such a personal vantage point. For diaspora viewers who grew up with Iranian drama of the 1990s, the film carries both the texture of that era's filmmaking and the weight of its moral questions. Shakibai's presence alone signals the serious register: he is the kind of actor who makes a film feel grounded in lived reality. The story touches on loyalty, institutional pressure, and what one person sacrifices to do the right thing — themes that resonate well beyond Tehran.
Where & how to watch
Sayeh be Sayeh is available now on K-Time in its original Persian audio. Stream it on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, no extra download required. Subscribe once and cancel anytime.