Perhaps more than anything else, Taghvai is remembered for his moral integrity. He was known to reject film projects if they required distortion of truth or compromise of character. After the 1979 Revolution, his output slowed dramatically. Censorship, bureaucracy, and shifting political climates made it nearly impossible for him to make films the way he wished. Yet, unlike many others who adapted to official demands, Taghvai often chose silence over submission. This silence was not artistic exhaustion but a quiet act of resistance.
Although Taghvai directed relatively few films, his influence radiated through generations. He occasionally taught at film institutions in Tehran, mentoring younger directors who would later define the post-revolution cinematic landscape. Filmmakers such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Bahman Ghobadi, and Mohammad Rasoulof have cited him as an inspiration — particularly his courage to tell regional stories and resist cultural homogenization. His insistence on filming authentic locations and dialects also inspired the southern cinema movement — a trend among directors to explore stories outside Tehran, focusing on coastal, tribal, and working-class communities.
