Director: Ali Hatami
Cast: Behrouz Vossoughi, Naser Malek Motiee, Afarin Obeisi, Hamide Kheyrabadi, Zhale Olov
Toghi is a 1987 Iranian drama film directed by Ali Hatami, one of Iranian cinema's most distinctive voices. The film draws on a deep-rooted Persian folk belief about the toughi bird and the misfortune it supposedly brings into a household, weaving superstition and family life into a quietly haunting story.
What is Toghi about?
A close-knit Iranian family acquires a toughi — a bird long regarded in Persian tradition as an ill omen when kept in captivity. What begins as a seemingly innocent addition to the household gradually unsettles the bonds between family members. Old grudges surface, quiet tensions grow louder, and the weight of belief — whether rational or not — begins to press against daily life. Hatami presents the family's unraveling with restraint and attention to domestic detail, letting the superstition function as a lens through which deeper human anxieties become visible. The story is rooted in ordinary Iranian domestic space but opens onto universal questions about fate, belief, and the fragility of familial harmony.
Cast & crew
Director Ali Hatami was celebrated for his lyrical, historically conscious approach to Iranian storytelling. The cast includes Behrouz Vossoughi, one of pre- and post-revolution Iranian cinema's most enduring leading men; Naser Malek Motiee, a beloved character actor with decades of stage and screen experience; Afarin Obeisi; Hamide Kheyrabadi; Zhale Olov; Bahman Mofid; and Gholam-Reza Sarkoob.
Context & significance
Released in 1987, Toghi sits within a rich tradition of Iranian domestic drama that uses the enclosed world of a single household to examine broader social and spiritual tensions. For diaspora viewers, the film carries an additional resonance: the toughi superstition is deeply embedded in Persian folk culture and may evoke vivid childhood memories or stories passed down through families. Hatami's interest in the texture of everyday Iranian life — its objects, rituals, and inherited beliefs — makes this a film that rewards patient, attentive viewing. It belongs alongside his other intimate portraits of Iranian domestic existence, and offers diaspora audiences a thoughtful, visually composed window into a vanishing world.
Where & how to watch
Toghi is available on K-Time in its original Persian audio. Watch on your browser, TV, or phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, no extra download. Cancel anytime.