Well-known Bollywood actress Dia Mirza who has starred in the movie ‘Salaam Mumbai’ in the lead role next to Iranian actor Mohammad Reza Golzar arrives in Tehran today.
The Indo-Iranian film, on screen in Iran for 17 days, has grossed over $1.5 million in the box-office, a promising sale for the joint production made with a budget of $2 million.
The film has been welcomed warmly by the people and many cinemas have added late midnight shows to their schedule to meet public demand.
A first group of the movie’s Indian actors and crew members came to Iran for its opening show, and now the lead actress is visiting to see the movie along with Iranians and take part in a press conference during her three-day stay in Tehran, ISNA reported.
Together with Golzar, she will meet film fans at Mellat Cineplex, in northern Tehran, on Wednesday, December 21 at 18:30 pm and watch the movie with them at 20:15.
On Friday (Dec. 23), she will see the film with the audience at Tamasha Cineplex in southern Tehran. At the event, she will be accompanied by Iranian filmmaker Ghorban Mohammadpour and producer Javad Norouzbeigi.
Dia, 35, has performed in almost 40 films. Speaking to the Indian Express, she said, “I am just blown away by the kind of love I am getting from Iran. I have a deep connection with Iran. When I was growing up, my father had told me how he had travelled all the way to India from Munich by land. He travelled to Iran and Afghanistan before coming to India.
He was an architect and also a photographer. He did a lot of workshops in Iran. So Iran holds a lot of intrigue for me. When this movie offer came, it was like life becoming a full circle as I was getting an opportunity to go back to the land that my father had a deep connection with.”
The opportunity to explore new horizons, to reach out to a new audience also motivated her to do the film.
Talking about her experience of working with Golzar, the Indian star said, “I think because of their culture Iranians have a certain formality that they maintain. He was quite formal, charming and considerate.”
In the trilingual film – Persian, English and Hindi - which was shot mostly in Mumbai, Dia plays a medical student who falls in love with her classmate (played by Golzar).
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