# Shahrzad (TV series)

Shahrzad (Persian: شهرزاد, romanized: Shahrzād) is an Iranian romantic and historical drama series written by Hassan Fathi and Naghmeh Samini, produced by Mohammad Emami and directed by Hassan Fathi The storyline is set around and after the 1953 Iranian coup d'état. The series is licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran and available online and in CDs around the country. Due to its international popularity, it has been dubbed and aired in Urdu, Arabic, French, Spanish and Russian. It stars Ali Nassirian, Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini, Mostafa Zamani and Parinaz Izadyar.
In the first few episodes, the singer of the series was Alireza Ghorbani. Then Mohsen Chavoshi and Sina Sarlak replaced him. In the last two episodes, Amin Bani and Farnaz Maleki were added to the series' singers.

## Storyline

Iranian businessman Bozorg Agha is the head of a very powerful mafia syndicate who had a strong role in the coup d'état against Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh's government on 18 August 1953. The son and daughter of two of Bozorg Agha's henchmen, Shahrzad and Farhad, are about to get married. During the coup chaos, Farhad gets arrested and sentenced to death. Bozorg Agha uses the influence he has amongst the coup heads to set Farhad free on the condition that Shahrzad agrees to break her engagement to him and marry the nephew of Bozorg Agha, Ghobad. Ghobad is already married to the sterile daughter of Bozorg Agha, Shirin, who does not take kindly to her husband's growing love for his second wife. The conflict created by these circumstances as well as the political activities of Farhad set the background for the story. The series follows the troubled lives of the people under the control of Bozorg Agha's rule as well as the ongoing rivalry between Bozorg Agha and other corrupt political leaders of the time.

## Cast

    = Main cast (credited)
    = Recurring cast (3+)
    = Guest cast (1-2)
| Actor | Character | Seasons | Seasons | Seasons |
| Actor | Character | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Taraneh Alidoosti | Shahrzad Saadat | Main | Main | Main |
| Shahab Hosseini | Ghobad Divansalar | Main | Main | Main |
| Mostafa Zamani | Farhad Damavandi | Main | Main | Main |
| Parinaz Izadyar | Shirin Divansalar | Main | Main | Main |
| Ali Nassirian | Bozorg Agha Divansalar | Main | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Mehdi Soltani | Hashem Damavandi | Main | Main | Recurring |
| Fariba Motekhasses | Marzieh | Main | Main | Main |
| Soheyla Razavi | Parvin | Main | Main | Main |
| Mahmoud Pakniat | Jamshid Saadat | Main | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Gelareh Abbasi | Akram Bourbouran | Main | Main | Main |
| Houman Barghnavard | Colonel Teymouri | Main | Main | Recurring |
| Pantea Panahiha | Sharbat | Main | Main | Recurring |
| Parviz Fallahipour | Nosrat Pashaei | Recurring | Main | Main |
| Amirhossein Fathi | Homayoun Mohtadi/Saber Abdolli | Recurring | Main | Main |
| Ghazal Shakeri | Azar Goldarrei | Main | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Abolfazl Pourarab | Heshmat Pashaei | Main | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Amirhossein Rostami | Babak Yeganeh | Main | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Mina Vahid | Maryam Mehrzad | Main | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Nahal Dashti | Mitra Damavandi | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Mona Ahmadi & Maasoumeh Beygi | Simin Saadat | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Nasim Adabi | Homeyra Saadat | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Ramin Naser Nasir | Houshang | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Pasha Jamali | Asghari | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Jamshid Hashempour | Major Fouladshekan | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Roya Nonahali | Belgheys Divansalar | Does not appear | Main | Guest |
| Reza Kianian | Shapour Behboudi | Does not appear | Main | Main |
| Amir Jafari | Captain Aparviz | Does not appear | Main | Main |
| Ateneh Faghih Nasiri | Soraya | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Jamshid Gorgin | Shahram Behboudi | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Manouchehr Zendehdel | Colonel Soheili | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Hadi Ghomeyshi | Mr. Shirvani | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Banipal Shoomoon | Esfandiari | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Saghi Zinati | Malmal Taherkhanlou | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Mehran Nael | Mr. Arshad | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Farshid Samadipour | Zabih | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Parviz Bozorgi | Rajab | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Mohammad Yeganeh | Asad Ghiasi | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Nahid Moslemi | Batool | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Sam Nouri | Sedgh Nouri | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Abbas Zafari | Akram's father | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Parisa Sabournezhad | Saeedeh | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Mahsa Nasiri | Esmat | Recurring | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Hamid Reza Azarang | Lieutenant Mohammadi | Guest | Does not appear | Does not appear |
| Hossein Saharkhiz | Masoud Khan | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Shokrekhoda Goodarzi | Mozaffar | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Siamak Helmi | Feri | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Parviz Bashardoost | Enayatollah Khan | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Mohsen Naghibian | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Amirkaveh Ahaninjan | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Aman Rahimi | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Mahdi Yahestani | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Morteza Rostami | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Javad Zeytooni | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Farhad Mahdavi | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Mohammadreza Imanian | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Houshang Ghanavatizadeh | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Behzad Davari | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Pouria Miandehi | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Shahab Ashkan | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Hootan Shateripour | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Amirhossein Shariatmadari | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Mohsen Marvi | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Elham Nami | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |
| Ahmad Lashini | | Does not appear | Recurring | Recurring |

## Production

The cast of the 59-episode series includes over 200 artists. Considering the professional team behind the camera, plus two years spent on pre-production and four months of shooting, it is the biggest project by the private sector for the home video network.

### Location

The series was shot in Ghazali Cinematic Town in the western part of Tehran. Covering an area of 10 hectares, the complex was established in 1971 by the late director Ali Hatami, partially simulating old Tehran. It comprises various state and historic buildings; streets, and places similar to more than 100 years ago decorated by Italian decorators, particularly Gianni Cortina. Other locations are the Museum of the Qasr Prison, Vossug ed Dowleh House, House dr Mohammad Moin, Naderi Café, Passenger Terminal, Sulaimaniyah Palace and Baharestan Square camerawork. Another location that resonated with the Armenian community in Iran is the Armenian Club that is used for weddings and outings by the Armenians. This club is used in the very first few parts of episode one of Shahrzad as a meeting place for Farhad and Shahrzad.

## Distribution

Its first season was broadcast in 2014. The broadcast of the second season started on Monday, June 19, 2017 and ended on October 17, 2017. The broadcast of the third season also began from January 31, 2018 and ended on June 21, 2018. The series was broadcast weekly on Mondays.

## Reception
### Reviews

Parviz Jahed review from Guardian wrote:
   Good story-telling has made it an intriguing and successful melodrama set against the backdrop of an important episode in Iran’s modern history.
Mahdi Ganjavi review from Global Voices Online wrote:
   As the story of Shahrzad shows, the political and economic aspirations, desires, and interests of any historical moment entail a revision of what happened in the past. Shahrzad is a love story in the disturbed atmosphere.

### Awards

This series has had a total of 12 nominations and 7 wins from Hafez Awards and has had 6 nominations and 2 wins from the Yas International Film Festival.
Season 1
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Best Series | Shahrzad | Won |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Best Director | Hassan Fathi | Won |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Best Soundtrack | Mohsen Chavoshi with Sina Sarlak | Nominated |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Best Actor | Shahab Hosseini | Nominated |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Best Actor | Ali Nasirian | Won |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Best Actress | Taraneh Alidoosti | Nominated |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Best Actress | Parinaz Izadyar | Nominated |
| 2016 | 16th Hafez Awards | Life Achievement | Jamshid Hashempour | Won |
* Also won the Best Director and Best Screenplay category at the fourth Yas International Film Festival.
Season 2 & 3
Was appreciated the most with three awards from Hafez Awards:
* The best drama actor award went to Mehdi Soltani
* The best drama actress to Roya Nonahali
* Best director award to Hassan Fathi.
And eight nominations, including:
* Best Actress for Taraneh Alidosti, Prinaz Izdiar and Galareh Abbasi
* Best Actor for Mostafa Zamani, Shahab Hosseini and Amir Hossein Fathi

### Poll

* Best Series in Iran of all Time with 67% vote - Cmmagazine

### Celebration and Appreciation

Celebration and appreciation ceremony of the actors of Shahrzad series was held last night, Sunday, May 16, in the presence of the agents of this series and other cinema artists in the conference hall of Milad Tower in Tehran.