Hezar Dastan (Persian: هزاردستان, also Romanized as Hezār Dastān) (1979-1987) is a highly popular TV series in Iran directed by Ali Hatami. Hezar Dastan is considered an eternal work in the history of Iranian TV. Hatami established a small town as historical site in which he made Hezar Dastan. In 2006, Hezar Dastan was voted by the Association of Iranian movies and TV critics as the best Iranian TV series ever made.
Ghazarian jewelry shop is robbed by Moffatesh Shesh Angoshti (Davoud Rashidi). A set of jewelry belonging to Khan-e-Mozaffar's daughter-in-law, Amineh Aghdas (Zari Khoshkam) is among the stolen jewels. Khan -e- Mozaffar (Ezzatolah Entezami), who used to be the governor of Kerman, asks the Head of the Police (Jafar Vali) in Tehran to locate the missing jewels. Head of Police then assigns Moffatesh to find the set of jewelry. After a few unsuccessful attempts to recover the jewelry set, Moffatesh realizes that a Police Officer (Nematollah Gorji) stole the set in the process of crime.
The corrupt inspector, whose position has become shaky, retreats to Mashhad. He asserts pressure on Reza Khoshnevis, the famous calligrapher, to hand over his wealth to him. It is then that Reza recounts the story of his life under torture.
Partial cast
Jamshid Mashayekhi as Reza Tofangchi (Khoshnevis):
An old calligrapher, hunter and mercenary for Komiteh Mojazat. He is loosely based on four historical figures: Emad ol-Ketab, Mirza Mohammad Reza Kalhor, Karim Davatgar and Ali Hatami himself.
Ezzatolah Entezami as Khan -e- Mozaffar (Hezardastan):
The former governor of Kerman, who lives full time in the Grand Hotel. He is presumably the most powerful man in Iran in the times of World War II and controls everything from Import / Export to Political Situations. He is based on Abdol-Hossein Farmanfarma.
Davoud Rashidi as Moffatesh Shesh Angoshti (En: Six-Fingered Inspector):
A corrupt investigator and interrogator who works for Khan -e- Mozaffar. He is a mixed between several historical figures such as Muhammad-Husayn Ayrom, Rokneddin Mokhtari, Mohammad Dargahi, Abbas Bakhtiari and Adib ol-Saltaneh.
Ali Nasirian as Abolfath
Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz as Shaban Ostekhani
Hosein Gil as Seyyed Morteza:
A iron-smith in Tehran who later kills Khan -e- Mozaffar
Jafar Vali as Head of Police
Zahra Hatami as Amineh Aghdas:
Khan -e- Mozaffar's Daughter-in-law
Shahla Mir Bakhtiar as Ghamar Banoo
Afsar Asadi as The Princess
Rogheyeh Chehreh-Azad as Ghodsi
Mehri Vadadian as Esmaeel Khan's Wife
Jahangir Almasi as Newly Returned Doctor
Parvis Pourhosseini as Matin -o- Saltane
Hooshang Beheshti as Jalal ol-Molk
Mohamad Motie as Gholam Amme
Asghar Hemmat as A Soldier during Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
Soroosh Khalili as Saqadar / Ghazarian
Jahangir Forouhar as Head Waitor in Grand Hotel / Mofattesh -e- Nazmie (En: Police Inspector)
Jamshid Layegh as Jafar Gholi Khan Neshat (Uncle Neshat)
Mohammad Varshouchi as Police Officer
Nematollah Gorji as Police Officer
Esmaeel Mehrabi as Nasrollah Khorami
Manouchehr Azari as the Grand Hotel's Doorman
Farhang Mehrparvar as Doctor Khandan
Akbar Doodkar as The Pharmacist
Mansoor Vala Magham as the Grand Hotel's Manager
Mahmoud Basiri as Dry Cleaner
Esmail Mohammadi as Ostad Bahar
Ataollah Zahed as Seyyed Ebrahim Rohani
Leila Hatami as young Amineh Aghdas
Saeed Amir Soleymani as Moeer ol-Doleh
Trivia
The movie was censored numerous times before it was cleared for screening by Islamic organizations in Iran.
