Nasser Malek-Motiei returns with “Negar’s Role”

The 83-year-old thespian’s return to cinema was celebrated during a ceremony held on Friday evening by the Sorinet Group, a holding company that produced the film and is owned by controversial tycoon Babak Zanjani.

“I cannot describe how pleased I am that I have appeared in cinema again,” Malek-Motiei said during the celebration, which was attended by director Ali Atshani, members of the film crew, Zanjani, and a number of his friends.

“I was the bad boy of cinema, who has returned to his home. I do not know how to express my happiness like that child would,” he added.

He made his debut in 1949 in “Spring Variety”, an episodic film directed by Parviz Khatibi. He then appeared in over 60 films, the last of which was “The Imperiled”, which was directed by Iraj Qaderi in 1982. “The Imperiled” was the first film Malek-Motiei acted in after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Afterwards, Malek-Motiei faced an unofficial ban due to the new conditions dominating Iranian cinema after the revolution.

“Over the years, I was far from cinema. It was like I was far from my beloved. I always thought about the beloved, and now I do not know whether the beloved will accept me or not,” Malek-Motiei said.

“I entered cinema with empty hands and lack of knowledge and unsupported, but with love. People ignored our mistakes, and it would be a pity if we do not appreciate them,” he added.

This is the second time the Sorinet Group has financed the production of a film. The first was “Nowhere, Nobody”, a multi-layered drama by director Ebrahim Sheybani that premiered in Iranian theaters in the early August.

“Mr. Atshani is a promising filmmaker, and we are pleased that we were at his service for this project,” Zanjani said.

“Henceforth, we intend to be actively involved in the motion picture industry,” added the mogul, who helped Iran evade the international sanctions on its oil sales.

He recently appointed actor Amir Jafari as the director of a department of the Sorinet Group that will supervise contracts between the company and filmmakers in the future.