“I will marry someone who understands me.” Zebo Rahimova, who had matchmakers arrive when she was 12 and has spent $70,000 on travel, is now 23 years old

“I will marry someone who understands me.” Zebo Rahimova, who had her first suitor at age 12 and has spent $70,000 on travel, turns 23

Actress and blogger Zebo Rahimova turned 23 on September 2. On this occasion, we look back at the life and career of the creator who transitioned from the world of art to vlogging, winning the hearts of millions of fans, who loves to travel to the world's most picturesque corners, and who hired a morning wake-up assistant due to being a heavy sleeper.

Zebo Rahimova was born in the city of Tashkent. In her interviews, she says that she grew up spoiled because she was an only child in the family.

“My real name is not Zebo, it's Zebiniso”

— My real name is Zebiniso. There is a funny story behind how I got my name: it was actually supposed to be Munisa. My mother's name is Mohira. Her parents-in-law told her, “Name her whatever you want.” Therefore, my mother intended to name me Munisa because it sounded similar to her own name. After I was born, while my mother was still in the hospital, my grandfather went to get my birth certificate and forgot what name he was supposed to give. He thought and thought but couldn't recall it at all.

Then a woman there asked my grandfather for his mother's name and advised him to use that name. In order not to keep those waiting in line, my grandfather said: “Alright, just write down this name, they will figure out what to call her themselves.” After that, my mother cried and was upset with my grandfather. That is how I became Zebiniso. I like my name very much, and its meaning is also beautiful.

“Only my mother did not oppose me becoming an actress”

— I am an only child in the family. In the beginning, my family opposed my choice of an acting career. Only my mother supported this idea of mine. That is why my mother and I are very close. In general, I consider my parents to be my closest friends in life. Relatives or acquaintances from the street can never be confidants like them.

Being an only child, I used to stay home alone when my parents went to work, and I got used to solitude. That is why even now, when I am left alone, I feel very calm.

“My first suitor came when I was 12 years old”

— In Uzbekistan, girls with fair skin and blue eyes are in high demand. Perhaps that is why my first suitor came when I was 12 years old. After that, when I was 18, my family wanted to marry me off to suitors from a good family. When they inquired thoroughly, it turned out the boy was not right for us. Knowing this, my parents later regretted forcing me. If they had married me off to that person at that time, today my parents would have felt very guilty before me. After realizing this, they left the decision to me. They told me that all the responsibility would be on my own shoulders.

“I told my dad I would become a journalist”

— Before I started attending acting classes, I got permission from my dad by saying I would become a presenter. I told my dad: “Journalists don't become famous quickly. If I become known as a famous actress first, I will transition to journalism later. After that, when I work as a presenter, everyone will know me, it will be easy to get hired for shows, and they will invite me to weddings.” That is how I convinced him to let me go to acting school. Later, I said, “It turns out there is no school that trains journalists, so I might as well stay in acting, since both are similar professions.” He agreed.

In the beginning, he even accompanied me to serial shoots. Because he had heard all kinds of bad things about actors and actresses and had seen interviews of people in this profession. Therefore, he would take me there himself and watch the filming processes. Later, I heard my dad telling someone: “When I looked closely, there are no cleaner people than art people. Everyone goes about doing their own job. No one interferes with anyone else, and besides, there are many women there.” Thus, he later realized that his daughter had not chosen a bad profession.

“When I played my first role, I was not a student”

— I took acting lessons for a year to get admitted to the institute. My first teacher was Zahro Mirzayeva. She sent me a message about a casting call for the main character of the serial “Folbin” (The Fortune Teller). I wrote to the organizers, sent my photo, and went. I was approved for the lead role and started my first film career with this project. The 42-episode serial was a huge experience for me.

I watched everything from the filming processes to the editing. Even during the dubbing, I would listen to it over and over again, thinking, “Does my voice sound unpleasant?” This serial brought me luck. After that, I started to become known, and offers for telenovelas also began to come in. I must also mention that I did not receive money for this serial. I worked for free from beginning to end. Some episodes were even filmed at my grandmother's house. Even though my grandmother scolded me, saying her house was messed up, I agreed to this with all my heart.

And I started blogging in 2022. When I went to a bloggers' organization, we met Umid aka and started working on content together.

“I thought I would upgrade the Spark my parents bought me to a Gentra by working as a presenter at weddings”

— Many people say, “To achieve my dreams, I imagined them over and over again, I drew up a dream map.” I couldn't dream that much. Allah gave me much more than I thought. Before I started working, my parents wanted to gift me a Spark on installment after I got my driver's license. Approximately, that was our intention. Because at that time, I had no intention of becoming a blogger.

On the contrary, I used to say I would never be a blogger. Because they educated us differently at the institute. They portrayed bloggers very badly. They would say, “They are not professionals, this profession has no future.” Therefore, I thought I would become an actress, increase my vocabulary, and work as a presenter at weddings. I thought I would earn an income through this and replace the Spark my family bought me with a Gentra. But Allah had prepared even more than I expected. Before I even studied driving, I bought a Kia for myself for the first time at age 19. After that, I also gifted a car to my parents. It has already been a year since I got a Merc for myself, says the actress.

“In the future, I want to marry someone who understands me”

Photo: Instagram

— In the future, I want to build a family with someone who understands my profession and allows me to work. Because I love my profession very much. Furthermore, I don't want my parents to depend on someone else when they grow old, or for my future spouse to hold any help he gives them against them. Although I believe my future life partner will be a good person, I am still in favor of being financially independent, she says.

“I hired a separate worker to wake me up in the morning”

— I am a person who loves sleep very much. I found an excellent solution to get up early and manage all my tasks. I hired a worker who comes early every morning and wakes me up. Because I am a heavy sleeper, even an alarm clock cannot wake me up. Even if my mother wakes me up, I don't wake up. Because being an only child, I am spoiled. When a stranger comes and wakes you up, you wake up out of embarrassment. Since my sleep is so good, I don't have trouble traveling abroad either — as soon as I get on the plane, I fall asleep and wake up when we reach the destination.

My worker is my sister-in-law. Their house is right next to ours. One day she left her job. Then I wanted to help her financially. If I just gave her money, it would not sit well with my sister-in-law's pride. Therefore, thinking about what I needed myself, I said, “Come and wake me up in the morning, and then I will pay you a monthly salary,” says Zebo Rahimova.

“I am afraid of portraying myself as a victim”

— Even if I face difficulties in life, I avoid portraying myself as unhappy and a victim. I want people to follow me because they love me, not because they feel sorry for me. I don't want my followers on my page to feel pity towards me. My goal is only to share a good mood with them. For this reason, I try not to post stories on social networks crying or complaining about life, says the vlogger.

“I don't want to partner with everyone in vines”

— I have been filming vines together with my creative partner Umid Eshonqulov for four years. Although there have been minor misunderstandings so far, we find common ground and work like close friends. Right when I started blogging, I made it a goal not to film vines with all kinds of guys. In the beginning, many offers came from other bloggers, but I rejected them. Because I thought that changing partners frequently would ruin my reputation. For this reason, we work with only one partner every time — Umid aka.

“We signed our biggest contract with a construction company”

Recalling the first time she received a fee for advertising, Zebo Rahimova said that at that time, this process was very surprising for her.

— In the beginning, I used to appear in telenovelas for 200,000 soums. Then it became 300,000. With that, I received one million for the last telenovela I participated in. Since then, for almost two years, I have not played roles in films. There is no time for this either.

My first big fee was from an advertisement for a gold shop. At that time, we had set the price for advertising via stories on social media at 50 dollars. Then we received 600,000 soums in hand. Later, we signed a contract with a store dealing in appliances. I received 1,200 dollars in exchange for making 12 videos a month. After that, we made a 15,000-dollar-a-month agreement with a shampoo manufacturing company and started earning that much income. The biggest fee I have received so far has been a house. I was very happy because two houses were agreed upon in one contract. We signed a contract with the exact same construction company a second time on the same basis. The reason we say two is because we are two people. We split the money Umid aka and I earn exactly in half, she says.

“We spent almost 70,000 dollars on travel”

— So far, we have traveled to 28 countries. The first of our trips started with the Umrah pilgrimage. I went together with my parents. In total, we have spent 70,000 dollars on travel. This is the amount spent for two people, namely for me and Umid aka. With this money, one could hold approximately 12-13 weddings or buy 4-5 cars. Travel broadens a person's worldview. Only our memories remain with us, says Zebo Rahimova.