Shabhaye Barareh
Encyclopedia
Shabhaye Barareh was an Iran
ian satire
television series broadcast by the IRIB network. The series was finished after 92 episodes, even though the story of Barareh was not complete. It could be seen every night at 8:00 p.m. Tehran
time on Channel 3
in Iran. Repeats of the show were shown daily on IRIB 1 and IRIB 2 for those living out of the country. The show's last episode aired January 30, 2006.
It was directed by and starred the renowned Mehran Modiri
.
in the 1930s in Iran, during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, whose picture can be seen on the set. The village people have their own Persian
dialect which humorously modifies the language. In addition to this, the Barareans also have certain customs and rituals which at times are comical, such as their method of eating chick peas—by slapping individual peas from palm into mouth. The village of Barareh is believed by many be a microcosm of Iran itself. The town is split along the lines of Upper and Lower Barareh, which allegedly mimics the difference between the classes in modern day Iran. Events in the village, such as football ("darbid") matches, village council elections and marriage all also closely mirror today's Iran.
The show stars Mehran Modiri
, as Shir Farhad, the son of Lower Barareh's khan
, or leader. He lives with his sister, Saharnaz; mother, Shadoneh; and father, Salar Khan. The show begins when a journalist, Kiyanoosh, from Tehran
is arrested for writing an article criticizing the government, escapes capture, and then is promptly bitten by a snake. Shir Farhad finds him collapsed and brings him to the village of Barareh, nurtures him to health, and gradually introduces him to the town and the other characters in the show, such as the families of Upper and Lower Barareh's Khans, as well as the flamboyant village poet, Bagoori, and village doctor. Later in the series, new characters such as the village gendarme
and Upper Barareh's Khan's son and daughter, Keivoon and Leiloon, join the cast. Davooneh doesn't appear in this.
to Mehran Modiri's 2002/2003 serial, Pavarchin
. Whilst not taking place in Barareh, Pavarchin introduced the oddities and strange behaviours of Barareans. The series also has many of the cast members from Modiri's earlier works such as Pavarchin, Noghtechin
, and Jayezeye Bozorg
.
"Shabhaye Barareh" is full of gags, which make a huge contribution to language of people. Some of these gags are listed below:
Fargh Makoolah was first said by Davood in Pavarchin
.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
television series broadcast by the IRIB network. The series was finished after 92 episodes, even though the story of Barareh was not complete. It could be seen every night at 8:00 p.m. Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
time on Channel 3
Channel 3 (Iran)
Channel 3 is one of five nationally broadcast television channels in Iran.It is the third television channel created by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and started broadcasting on December 5, 1993. The channel is often referred to as the youth channel, due to its large amounts of...
in Iran. Repeats of the show were shown daily on IRIB 1 and IRIB 2 for those living out of the country. The show's last episode aired January 30, 2006.
It was directed by and starred the renowned Mehran Modiri
Mehran Modiri
Mehran Modiri in Tehran, Iran) is a prolific Iranian actor, television director and musician. His artistic career began in his teenage years as he was acting in local plays...
.
Description
The show is set in the fictional village of BararehBarareh
Barareh is a fictional village in the Iranian television comedy series Pavarchin, and Shabhaye Barareh, assumed to be located near Shiraz. In fact filming was done in Tehran. However there is a real Barareh, but it is not that famous and is located in Markazi Province-Demographics:According to...
in the 1930s in Iran, during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, whose picture can be seen on the set. The village people have their own Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
dialect which humorously modifies the language. In addition to this, the Barareans also have certain customs and rituals which at times are comical, such as their method of eating chick peas—by slapping individual peas from palm into mouth. The village of Barareh is believed by many be a microcosm of Iran itself. The town is split along the lines of Upper and Lower Barareh, which allegedly mimics the difference between the classes in modern day Iran. Events in the village, such as football ("darbid") matches, village council elections and marriage all also closely mirror today's Iran.
The show stars Mehran Modiri
Mehran Modiri
Mehran Modiri in Tehran, Iran) is a prolific Iranian actor, television director and musician. His artistic career began in his teenage years as he was acting in local plays...
, as Shir Farhad, the son of Lower Barareh's khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
, or leader. He lives with his sister, Saharnaz; mother, Shadoneh; and father, Salar Khan. The show begins when a journalist, Kiyanoosh, from Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
is arrested for writing an article criticizing the government, escapes capture, and then is promptly bitten by a snake. Shir Farhad finds him collapsed and brings him to the village of Barareh, nurtures him to health, and gradually introduces him to the town and the other characters in the show, such as the families of Upper and Lower Barareh's Khans, as well as the flamboyant village poet, Bagoori, and village doctor. Later in the series, new characters such as the village gendarme
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
and Upper Barareh's Khan's son and daughter, Keivoon and Leiloon, join the cast. Davooneh doesn't appear in this.
Related series
Shabhaye Barareh is the prequelPrequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to Mehran Modiri's 2002/2003 serial, Pavarchin
Pavarchin
Pavarchin is an Iranian television comedy serial. It was broadcast for the first time by the IRIB in September of 2002 until March of 2003. It could usually be seen every night at 8:00 p.m. Tehran time on Tehran TV, also known as Channel 5 in Iran...
. Whilst not taking place in Barareh, Pavarchin introduced the oddities and strange behaviours of Barareans. The series also has many of the cast members from Modiri's earlier works such as Pavarchin, Noghtechin
Noghtechin
Noghtechin is an Iranian television sitcom. It was written, directed, and starred Mehran Modiri, the creator of Pavarchin and Shabhaye Barareh...
, and Jayezeye Bozorg
Jayezeye Bozorg
Jayezeye Bozorg is a 13-part Iranian TV series directed by Mehran Modiri made in 2005. Modiri also stars in the series, along with Reza Shafiei Jam, Javad Razavian, Siamak Ansari, Saed Hedayati and Behnoosh Bakhtiari....
.
Running Gags
"Shabhaye Barareh" is full of gags, which make a huge contribution to language of people. Some of these gags are listed below:
- Give me money!: In the show Keyvoon is a thug, even though his parents thought he was a doctor. He often robs people by telling them: "Give me money!" , and when they reply: "Why?" He says: "Bullying money!" Sometimes he says "Give me money" for no reason.
- Zorro: In one episode, Salar Khan turns out to be the Zorro of Barareh, a comic homage to the original Zorro. Because of his old age, he wants his son, Shir Farhad, to succeed him as the next Zorro. In a later episode, Shadoneh tells Shakhe Shemshad that her husband is Zorro, and Shakhe Shemshad replies: "No! My son, Keyvoon is Zorro!" Shadoneh replies: "But when Zorro came, Keyvoon was among the people, how can he be Zorro?" Shakhe Shemshad retorts: "Well, because he played in two roles, simultaneously."
- The Sadomasochist Saharnaz: Saharnaz, Shir Farhad's sister and Kiyanoush's wife is a modern feminist. She is aggressive, agrestic, and tough. When Kiyanoush asks her: "Why are you so violent towards me?" she replies: "Because I hurt who I love." In some episodes we see that Saharnaz likes to be hurt as well.
- It Differs: In Bararian language, there are four expressions to say: "It Differs". While Persians say: "Fargh Mikoneh" as a synonym to "It Differs", Bararians say:
- "Fargh Makooleh" for large differences
- "Fargh Fookooleh" for medium differences
- "Fargh Fan Coil" for small differences
- "Fargh Phil Collins" for extremely small differences
Fargh Makoolah was first said by Davood in Pavarchin
Pavarchin
Pavarchin is an Iranian television comedy serial. It was broadcast for the first time by the IRIB in September of 2002 until March of 2003. It could usually be seen every night at 8:00 p.m. Tehran time on Tehran TV, also known as Channel 5 in Iran...
.
- Khoob Biiid?: Was it gooood?; the poet Bagoori says this after every poem to make sure that people liked it.
- Jiiiiigar: This is Salar Khan's slogan, meaning sweetheart.
- Voooygoolanjz: Voooygoolanjz denotes the third person plural conjugate of any verb at present tense and past tense. In barareh language every verb gets a prefix of "va" added to the standard forms of the verb conjugates, but the third person plural of the form of the verb changes radically to vooygoolanjz regardless of the verb. For example the verb "to go" or "raftan" becomes: va-raftam, va-rafti, va-raft, va-raftim, va-rafteed, voooygoolanjz. Since the third person plural any verb is vooygoolanjz, the meaning of the sentence can only be determined via context. For example when Barareans mean to quote a statement from any source, they say: "Vooygoolanjz ke Sahrnaz--is not married" in this context vooygoolanjz denotes third person plural conjugate form of "say," meaning "they say." Much of the humor of the barareh language is hidden in the context of the vooygoolanjz and at times you find the actors laughing when they have to use the third person plural in their sentence. Also, since in Persian, unlike some other Indo-European languages, consecutive consonants do not occur, the existence of Vooygoolanjz and the constant reminder of it throughout the story, is the confirmation of the claim that Barrareh language is a deliberately posh version of Persian, where more than two consecutive consonants can occur, i.e. "njz" and the nonsensical "vooygoola" prefix is added to make it sound Western.
- Hashtaplakoo (هَشتپلَكو): A drastic measure to frame up someone. By Bararean definition it is one degree harsher than Haftaplakoo (هفتپلكو).
- Chourmang (چورمنگ): A Bararean curse to offend the addressee. Broken down to its elements Chour-mang: "Chour" is also a colloquial term for "penis" and "mang" is also a colloquial term for "forgetful." Chourmang is the transvest version of the other commonly used Persian curse "Koskhol" which broken down to it is elements kos-khol: "kos" is the standard word for "pussy" and "khol" is the standard word for "crazy". Both Koskhol, in today's Persian, and Chourmang in Barareh, are intended convey to the addressee that he/she is behaving irrationally.
- Sistani Curses: Yavar Toghrol is from city of ZabolZabolZabol is a city in and the capital of Zabol County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. Zabol lies on the border with both Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the 2006 census, its population was 130,642, in 27,867 families....
in SistanSistanSīstān is a border region in eastern Iran , southwestern Afghanistan and northern tip of Southwestern Pakistan .-Etymology:...
, a province in South-Eastern Iran. Toghrol uses Sistani curses which sound very funny when mixed with common Persian. He uses words like: "Toskatoso", "Shonpet", "Kata Kalla", "Allakhootak", "Khosou Khosou" and so on. In one episode of Pavarchin, he gets angry with Farhad and tells him: "Shonpet!" Farhad replies: "Did you mean Sean PennSean PennSean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
?"
- He doesn't know anything at all: The Bararians regularly encounter problems which can be easily solved with a little bit of common sense, but they can't solve them on their own. Kiyanoush ends up solving the problem, but he is shown disrespect and the Bararians accuse him of being stupid. They always say "In hichi navafahma" meaning "He does not know anything at all" in Bararian language.
- The Cemetery: Bararians claim that the most famous people of the world are from Barareh, and even some of them like Claude DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Wassily KandinskyWassily KandinskyWassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
and Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
are buried in the cemetery of Barareh.
- Alexander Pit : Bararians also claim Alexander the Great has had a big fight when he passed from their village and effect of that big fight is a small pit which is called 'Alexander Pit'. This exaggeraion of history shows its version differently in different episodes, e.g. in one episode Shir Farhad claims there has been 60 million person killed in this small pit, and in answer of Kianoosh protest to him about population of village by this time he mentions there has been after that horrible war the population reduced from 60 million to 92 persons. In another episode Shir Farhad talk about 'Roxana Barareh-i' who claims Alexander the Great falls in love with her when he passed from Barareh so he did not continue his wars. It has a lot of satire comparing with Iranian way of looking to their history.
- Beh man cheh: It's none of my business, Kiyanoosh is constantly being bullied by the people of Barareh and replies with "It's none of my business" when they always ask him to do things
- Cholombeh: If one goes on a date with a woman and the woman leads him on and then at the end she refuses to have sex, then that person is Cholombeh or in barareh Persian "cholombah vashode." Also on the wedding night if the woman refuses the man, then he is also cholombeh'ed. Cholombeh can also mean stood-up and can apply to both sexes.
Middle barrareh
- Siamak AnsariSiamak AnsariSiamak Ansari , is an Iranian television actor and director mostly known for his appearances in sitcom comedy series especially those created by Mehran Modiri. He studied arts and got his bachelor from Azad University....
- Kiyanoosh Esteghrarzadeh (the journalist from Tehran, and subsequently the son-in-law of the Lower Barareh's khan) - Shaghayegh DehghanShaghayegh DehghanShaghayegh Dehghan is an Iranian actress. She is most famous for her appearances in television series made by Mehran Modiri.-Filmography:*Fekr-e Palid *Zir-e noor-e-mah...
- Saharnaz (the Lower Barareh Khan's daughter) - Falamak JoneidiFalamak JoneidiFalamak Joneidi is an Iranian television actress.-Career:She has appeared in the television series Char Khooneh, Jayezeye Bozorg, Marde Do Hezar Chehreh, Mard-e Hezar-Chehreh and Shabhaye Barareh.-Television work:-External links:...
- Shadoneh Khanoum (the Lower Barareh Khan's wife) - Mehran ModiriMehran ModiriMehran Modiri in Tehran, Iran) is a prolific Iranian actor, television director and musician. His artistic career began in his teenage years as he was acting in local plays...
- Shir Farhad (the Lower Barareh Khan's son) - Mohammad Shiri - Salar Khan (the Khan of Lower Barareh)
- Hassan Shokohi - Babri Khan (Brother of Shadoneh)
Lower Barareh
- Behnoosh BakhtiariBehnoosh BakhtiariBehnoosh Bakhtiari , is an Iranian actress. She is mostly known for her roles in Mehran Modiri's sitcoms, particularly her hilarious portrayal of Leiloon in Shabhaye Barareh. She was born in Tehran.-TV Series:-References:...
- Leiloon (the Upper Barareh Khan's daughter) - Fatemeh HashemiFatemeh HashemiFatemeh Hashemi is an Iranian television actress.-Career:She has studied Theater & Literature & appeared in the television series Parvaz 57, Sa'ate khosh, Harf to Harf, Az khastegari ta Ezdevaj, Shabhaye Barareh, Ghahveye Talkh....
- Shakheh Shemshad Khanoum (the Upper Barareh Khan's wife) - Saeed Hedayati - Jan Nesar (the Upper Barareh Khan's quasi-servant, whose sole purpose is to compliment and cajole him)
- Hadi Kazemi - Nezam De Barareh (the Upper Barareh Khan's nephew and the soldier in training )
- Saeed Pirdoost - Sardar Khan (the Khan of Upper Barareh)
- Reza Shafie-Jam - Keivoon (the Upper Barareh Khan's son)
Other characters
- Ali Kazemi - Bagoori (the poet of Barareh )
- Mohhamed Reza Hedayati - Yavar Toghrol (Bararehs Gandarmerie)
- Asghar Heidari - Dr. Jakool (Village doctor/barber/banker/dentist)
- Mokhtar Saegi - Corporal
- Shayan Ahadifar - Village Jester
External links
- "TV comedy raises tough issues in Iran" — article from ReutersReutersReuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
.