Behzad Bolour or Behzad Bolurforushan (born 23 March 1965) is one of the senior editors and producers of

BBC Persian BBC Persian () is the Persian language broadcast station and subsidiary of BBC World Service which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Iran and the world. Its headquarters are in London, United Kingdom. Pe ...

since 1990, and the producer and director of the program ''Bolour-e Banafsh''. Behzad is a member of the old family of Bolurforushan in Tehran. His background his mother's side goes back to Abbas Mirza Qajar, and by his father to the importer of the

Nickel silver Nickel silver, maillechort, German silver, argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, or alpacca is a cupronickel (copper with nickel) alloy with the addition of zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver ...

and Crystal Factory of Iran, Mohammad-Hassan Bolurforushan.

Life and activities

At 15, he won the National Award for Fine Arts in Iranian High Schools and studied

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

traditional music. Behzad left Iran in 1983 (he says on his Instagram page that he ran away) and turned to fashion design, interior design, and murals, and recorded a traditional

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

album, which in 1990 paved the way for him in producing music and youth programs, performing, and producing BBC Persian Radio opened and then prepared the entertainment magazine "Rooze Haftom". His "Boose Tarikh" program, or "Kiss History", has been nominated for numerous awards for

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

, as well as his other programs. He has appeared in a series of animated films in the role of a

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

and has directed the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

zigzag illustrated story project. He launched the

Persian entertainment website, hosted live broadcasts of Iranian concerts in Europe and

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, and has supported

underground culture Underground culture, or simply underground, is a term to describe various alternative cultures which either consider themselves different from the mainstream of society and culture, or are considered so by others. The word "underground" is used ...

and music since its inception in the 1990s. He has also organized various cultural events in Britain and Central Asia. Behzad has also trained young journalists in Afghanistan and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

since 2000. He said in the "ChaharShanbe Ba Sina" TV program that he placed particular emphasis on not using non-

words in Persian, as well as his accompanying decorations from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

, the variety of his hats and his use of flowers on the hat, and the reason for using the hat. On 21 March 2009, he presented a combination of

Nowruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish language, Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ...

and music on the occasion of the Iranian New Year on

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...

in the United States. Behzad Bolour by Pouria Afkhami Pixoosphoto 02

Ancestors

Behzad's maternal grandfather was Mr. Gholam Hossein Behbahani, the merchant of

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

. During the

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

period, he was one of the great merchants of

and during the reign of

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

, he was the representative of

in the National Assembly.

Race

According to

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

his DNA race includes Irani, Turk and

Caucas Caucas or Kavkasos ( ka, კავკასოსი, tr) was the supposed ancestor of Vainakh peoples (Chechens and Ingush) according to '' The Georgian Chronicles''. His story is narrated in the compilation of the medieval Georgian chronicles, ...

In the Iranian Revolution of 1978

Behzad Bolour wrote in an article for

that during the Iranian Revolution of 1978, several Uzi and Kalashnikov machine guns were entrusted to Behzad's family by a commander who was his family, and we used these weapons to shoot in the air. The first army of the

Revolutionary Guards The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...

were the fathers of the family, and the family of Bolurfrushan was among them. He goes on to say that sometime later, the weapons were taken back and the

Corps was recognized.

Music

Behzad Bolour in 1980, learned the

setar A setar (, ) (lit: "Three String (music), Strings") is a stringed instrument, a type of lute used in Persian traditional music, played solo or accompanying voice. It is a member of the tanbur family of long-necked lutes with a range of more than ...

instrument from

Jalal Zolfonun Jalaal Zulfonun (, ; 7 March 1938 – 18 March 2012) was an Iranian musician, Setar (lute), setaar player, and a prominent composer and teacher of Persian traditional music, Persian music. Collaboration with Maurice Béjart He has also collabora ...

and then turned to playing the

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowa ...

and

komuz The komuz or qomuz ( , , ) is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute. The instrument can be found in Turkic ethnic groups, ...

. He says that

Iranian music The music of Iran encompasses music produced by Iranian artists. In addition to the traditional folk and classical genres, it also includes pop and internationally celebrated styles such as jazz, rock, and hip hop. Iranian music influenced oth ...

had disappeared so much that he learned to play the tambourine out of interest and by listening to ballads and inspiration from the

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

and traditional culture of Iran. In 1983, he formed several music groups in London and released the album Mish by Touch International company.

Seventh Day

Behzad Bolour joined

in 1992 with the encouragement of

Baqer Moin Baqer Moin () is a BBC journalist and author. He has been described as "a specialist on Iran and Islam and is head of the BBC's Persian Service" (in 1999) and as "BBC's Central Asia specialist" (2001). According to the American newspaper ''The New ...

, the then-head of the

section. By entering the Persian section, Behzad Bolour brought the culture of

Youth Day to the programs of this radio for

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He began his career on the Seventh Day program with the "Wonders and Westerns" song program and later produced and performed the entire program.

Work in Afghanistan

Behzad Bolour went to

a few days after the fall of the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

regime and was one of the first journalists to work in that country. Behzad Bolour was able to increase the thirst of

Afghan society The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of the nation. Afghanistan's culture is historically strongly connected to nearby Persia, including the same religion, as the people of both countries ...

for the fall of the Taliban regime.

Seventh Night and Underground Music

Believing in a culture of transparency and fairness, Behzad Bolour started a political program from the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

budget for Iranian teenagers and young people, in which they contacted the program lives under the pretext of playing their songs and said whatever they wanted to the atmosphere of the program. After a while, with the encouragement of Behzad, many young artists, using the basic facilities of sound recording and transmission via the Internet, began to send their songs to the

. Many of the most famous singers of these days, including Hossein Eblis, Hossein Tohi,

Amir Tataloo Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo (; born 21 September 1987), known professionally as Amir Tataloo (Persian: ), is an Iranian singer, rapper and songwriter. He is one of Iran's most famous and controversial artists known for his full body tattoo and his f ...

DJ Maryam Mahshar Nasrollahi () known as DJ Maryam () (born May 11, 1986, in Tehran) is an Iranian singer and DJ. Musical career She started singing as a child with the encouragement of her parents and learned various instruments, singing and opera. As ...

Pani Pāṇi is a surname used in India, found often in the state of Odisha (formerly Orissa). The surname Pāṇi is widely used in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and a large part of eastern and central India. This surname is used by Brahmins whose root is c ...

Khak KHAK (98.1 FM) is a radio station that broadcasts a country music format to the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, Iowa area. Licensed to Cedar Rapids, the station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. KHAK's studios are located in the Alliant Energy Bu ...

, Sara Naeini,

Mohsen Namjoo Mohsen Namjoo () is an Iranian singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. His style of music is influenced by blues and rock as well as Iranian folk music. Early life and education Namjoo was born on 4 March 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, a small town ...

Kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

, Oham group, Brooks,

Shahkar Bineshpajooh Shahkar Bineshpajooh (; born 13 December 1972, in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian poet, translator, composer, and singer. Bineshpahjooh has performed with orchestras in Europe and North America and translated works from Pablo Neruda and Bertolt Brec ...

and many others were interviewed by him for the first time. Behzad Bolour by Pouria Afkhami Pixoosphoto 04

Bolour-e Banafsh (Purple Crystal)

Regarding the choice of the name of the ''Bolour-e Banafsh'' program, he said that although he was not interested in purple, it was intended to be named after the new term "purple scream" by

Houshang Irani Hushang Irani (; 1925 in Hamedan – 4 September 1973 in Paris) was an Iranian poet, translator, critic, journalist and painter. He is one of the pioneers of "The New Poetry" and surrealism in Iran. The Fighting Cock days Founded in 1950, '' Kho ...

, who disagreed over the word "Crystal Scream". In different series, he examines Iranian and Middle Eastern music, art, and culture as immigrants in different parts of the world, including the documentary

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

and

Rudaki Rudaki (also spelled Rodaki; ; – 940/41) was a poet, singer, and musician who is regarded as the first major poet to write in New Persian. A court poet under the Samanids, he reportedly composed more than 180,000 verses, yet only a small p ...

, a series of

series in the United States, Iranian Immigrants in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and special programs such as

Yalda night Yaldā Night () or Chelle Night (also Chellah Night, , lit. "fortieth night") is an ancient festival in Iran, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan that is celebrated on the winter solstice. This corresponds t ...

in Tajikistan.

Teaching

In 2000, he traveled with a

team to

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

in northern

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, where he trained several groups of local radio programmers to produce political programs for

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

children from the

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

. As part of a political plan, the

trained citizen journalists who later worked for the

. Among his students are Farn Taghizadeh, Ali Hamedani, Nima Akbarpour, and many others. Behzad Bolour by Pouria Afkhami Pixoosphoto 06

Awards

*National Award for Fine Arts of Iranian High Schools at the age of 15 *Winner of the third prize of the World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media

References

External links

''Bolour-e Banafsh'' () archive list on YouTube BBC Persian

''Bolour-e Banafsh'' ('Purple Crystal') – Previous Programs, BBC Persian''Bolour-e Banafsh'' ('Purple Crystal'): Tajikistan 2 – Part 6: Journey to the Tomb

Yalda Night Celebration – BBC in TajikistanBreakfast in a better position than Pouria Afkhami and Behzad BlourPrograms made by Behzad Blour on the BBC Persian TV network (the official BBC Persian channel on YouTube)Behzad Bolour
at

*
Behzad Bolour

Official website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, education, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolour, Behzad 1965 births Living people BBC World Service people Iranian journalists BBC television presenters Mass media people from Tehran