TEHRAN -- Mehran Modiri, the director and actor of blockbuster TV comedy series such as “Good Time”, “Pavarchin” and “Barareh Nights”, has announced his plan to quit working for TV projects. 

He is currently working as director and host for the sketch comedy and celebrity talk show “Dorehami” (“Gathering”), which is broadcast on the Nasim Channel.

Speaking on Friday night on Haft (Seven), a TV program that reviews Iranian cinema and TV productions, he said, “I will not work for a TV or the home video network anymore after I finish my work with ‘Dorehami’.”   

He said the he would pursue his career in cinema by making a feature every year.

“I have been working 360 days out of 365 over the past years of my life and now, I think I should take a break,” he added.

“In my path to filmmaking, I intend to speak louder and more biting in the fields of politics and culture,” he stated.

“TV has no place for these words and its limitations do not allow these words to be spread,” he noted.     

Modiri made his directorial debut in TV in the early 1990s with “Flight 57”, a popular series that introduced those actors, including Reza Attaran and Reza Shafijam, which later turned into the pillars of many comedy productions.

He soon improved his acting and directorial career so that his name on the title of each TV production would be enough to convince Iranian viewers to watch it. However, his works gained part of their credit from scripts written by the Qasemkhani brothers, Peyman and Mehrab.   

In 2008, Modiri switched to the home video network following a disagreement with officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

He made several series, including “Bitter Coffee” and “I Was Joking”, during which he criticized some social issues in Iran.  

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid tribute to Modiri by visiting him on the set of “I Was Joking” in Tehran in December 2013.

In 2015, he returned to TV with “On the Margin”, a sitcom on the Iranian medical community that caused outrage among Iranian doctors.

Now, Modiri plans to try his hand in the motion picture industry with a comedy titled “5 P.M.”.

In his talks with Haft host Behruz Afkhami, he described the comedy as a “difficult street film,” for which he should hire 600 to 700 extras.

“The film depicts a man in the last hours that he has to carry out a task,” he stated.

Photo: Comedian Mehran Modiri (R) is seen talking with host Behruz Afkhami on Haft, a TV program that reviews Iranian cinema and TV productions, on July 22, 2016.    

MMS/YAW