TEHRAN – Actress Merila Zarei, who portrays the wife of the assassinated Iranian nuclear scientist Dariush Rezainejad in “Henas”, finds the movie unbiased.

35-year-old Rezainejad was shot dead by Mossad gunmen before the eyes of his wife and little girl in front of his house in Tehran in July 2011.

Directed by Hossein Darabi, “Henas” opened in select movie theaters on Friday. 

Zarei, Darabi, producer Mohammadreza Shafah, Rezainejad’s widow Shohreh Pirani and their daughter Armita attended a special screening of the movie at Tehran’s Azadi Cineplex.

The drama shows how the small heaven, in which Pirani was living with her spouse and their little daughter, collapsed due to the assassination.

“The director has tried to make an unbiased film away from an atmosphere some movies seek and cause filmgoers’ abstention,” Zarei said before the screening.

“The film depicts a compassionate and loving atmosphere and the true story through the eyes of martyr Rezainejad’s wife,” she added.

She also called the film’s story a part of Iran’s contemporary history and stated, “Thank God and that’s great that I was picked for the film to play a role in portraying the women of my country who stood successfully and showed great patience for pain and suffering.”

Zarei said that it is a difficult job to play the role of a living person in a true story, and Pirani thanked her for her good performance in the film.

“Henas” had its Iranian premiere in Tehran during the 40th Fajr Film Festival in February.

In a press conference held at that time, Pirani said “There is no point in the film in conflict with reality.” 

“However, there are some scenes that were suitably exaggerated in order to influence the audience,” she added. 

She also said, “This film is the story of choice; in the life with my husband, I learned in depth about valuable topics such as motherland, identity and national solidarity, and this movie has depicted all these very well.”     

The assassination of Rezainejad has previously been the subject of the play “Day of Armita”, which was performed at the 39th Fajr Theater Festival in 2021.   

The play was centered on Rezainejad’s daughter, Armita.

Photo: Nuclear scientist Dariush Rezainejad’s widow, Shohreh Pirani (3rd L) talks to the audience during a special screening of “Henas” at Tehran’s Azadi Cineplex on June 10, 2022. Her daughter Armita (4th L), cast members Merila Zarei and Kosar Heidari (1st, 2nd L), producer Mohammadreza Shafah and director Hossein Darabi are seen in the photo.

MMS/YAW