Friendship, Chivalry in Sholay II

A comedy ‘Sholay II,’ based on the 1975 Bollywood action-adventure film ‘Sholay’ is underway at Tehran’s Hafez Hall.

Written and directed by Iranian director and screenwriter Iman Afsharian, 42, it tells the story of a man named Vandad who takes his cousin Jahan, a great fan of the film starring Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan, now 74, to Mumbai, where Bollywood is based. They face a problem at the airport however.

The play opened on February 12 and will run through March 18, starting each night at 8.15 pm, according to Iran Theater.

The film Sholay was quite popular among Iranian audiences in the 1970’s. It was one of Afsharian’s favorite films, he said. It centers on the camaraderie of two criminal friends, Veeru and Jai, hired by a retired police officer to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh.

“Sholay has been in my top-ten since childhood. Whenever I watched the movie, I asked myself what made it attractive to me. One thing never gets old; neither in film nor in theater. I’m talking about the spirit of friendship and chivalry which should be depicted for the public,” he said.

The world has seen many unfortunate events in the past few years and so he decided to bring the theme of camaraderie on stage.”I used the Indian style in a comical context. The play is an adaptation on the basis of the more recent events. It reflects the contemporary conditions in society,” Afsharian said.

Cast members are Masoud Mirtaheri, Hamid Rahimi, Sepehr Goudarzi, Mohammad Pouya, Siavash Miri, Mehran Shoja, Mohammad Reza Altaha and Hamed Abrishami.

Hafez Hall is across Vahdat Hall, located on Shahryar Blvd, Hafez Street, south of Enqelab Avenue.