"Old woman Alfiya gave me money, fame, and a house in the capital." Barno Teshaboyeva on the unexpected success of her famous character (video)

“Old woman Alfiya gave me money, fame, and a house in the capital.” Barno Teshaboyeva on the unexpected success of her famous character (video)

Actress Barno Teshaboyeva, well known to viewers for her character of old woman Alfiya in the comedy show “Qalpoq”, gave an interview to the “Daryo lifestyle” YouTube channel. During the conversation, the actress spoke about performing at weddings and kelinsalom (bride's greeting) ceremonies with her mentor, People's Artist of Uzbekistan Saida Rametova, buying a house in the capital and a car thanks to the character of Alfiya, as well as a dream she had in an old “Moskvich” car.

“I thought they didn't admit me to study because I wasn't beautiful”

— When I was finishing the 10th grade, I told my late mother that I wanted to become an artist. She did not object to this. My mother never opposed which profession her eight children were interested in and who they wanted to be.

One day, my mother and I got on an electric train and came to the city. When we went down to the metro, got off at the “Kosmonavtlar” station, and went to submit documents to the then Tashkent State Institute of Arts and Culture named after N.A. Ostrovsky, I got scared. There were so many people. What frightened me was that there were many very beautiful girls with long hair, long eyelashes, and black eyebrows. I looked like a representative of the Tatar nation, with my hair cut short. I looked, and beautiful girls were reading monologues. While submitting the documents, I was thinking that I probably wouldn't get in with a ninety percent probability. I didn't believe in myself because I was a simple village girl next to those tall, fair-skinned girls.

“I failed the exams in the first year”

— Before the exam results came out, my mother took me to a cultural worker and asked her if I would make an actress. That woman said I wouldn't make an actress. Because my eyes supposedly didn't shine and I was very shy. I didn't get depressed at all because of her words. By nature, I am not prone to getting depressed at all. As I thought, I failed the exams in the first year. It was very painful to fail the history exam. Then I hid from everyone that I couldn't get in. Inside, I said, “I will get in even if it takes 10 years.”

“Famous actors and actresses were my classmates”

— I was admitted to study in the second year. There, I became classmates with Lola Eltoyeva and Muhammadiso Abdulxayirov, who are famous now. We studied in the same stream. In those years, I didn't think that I would later become a comedic actress, says Barno Teshaboyeva.

“It is true when they say a good intention is half the wealth” or about the dream seen in an old “Moskvich” and the song “Oq atirgullar” (White Roses)

— It is very true when they say you should make a good intention, and you will receive according to your intention. How I ended up in Umida Mirhamidova's music video “Oq atirgullar” was unusual. Returning from an event in Qashqadaryo, I arrived at a bus station in Tashkent. There was an old “Moskvich” at the station. The driver was an elderly man. I asked him to take me to my destination. Since I was freezing, I hurried into the car and probably closed the door a bit too hard, so the other door swung open with a rattle.

The car radio was on, some melody was playing at a low volume. At one point, the radio presenter said that a new premiere song would be played and left it to the fans to guess who the singer was. The song started with the words “O‘tar umr, o‘tadi yillar…” (Life passes, years pass...). Because I was both freezing and tired, I listened to the song half-asleep and said to myself, “Yulduz Usmonova sang a great song.” As I was dozing off with my head on the car seat, I said, “Oh God, I wish they would invite me to the music video of this song,” and in my dream, I was playing a role in the music video. In the imaginary video, I was running along the water in a white dress. My hero was also running towards me from the opposite direction. With such thoughts mixed with sleep and dreams, I reached my destination.

While this event happened in April, 6-7 months later, in October, I starred in the music video of this song. I didn't receive a single penny of fee for my role in the video. Because I was so happy that they chose me for it, it didn't even cross my mind to get a fee, says the actress.

“27–28 years ago, I used to perform kelinsalom at weddings with my mentor Saida Rametova”

— I started performing at weddings and singing songs in 1999. 27–28 years ago, I used to perform kelinsalom with my mentor Saida Rametova. At that time, Saida opa would hold my hand and take me with her. She would say, “You will become even better than me.” Even though I love Saida opa very much, I cannot tell her this. She has a certain fierceness and a certain warmth. Both are 50/50. At one glance, you keep your distance, and at another moment, you want to be close to her. She is such a magical woman. Then she has another great habit, I wish I had this habit too: even if she scolded me for not memorizing the poems she told me or for being late to a wedding, she would quickly forgive me. Throughout my career, I have not yet seen an artist who performs as many kelinsalom in one day as my Saida opa. I still remember her performing the ninth kelinsalom of the day at four o'clock in the afternoon, she says.

“The character of Alfiya brought me money, a house in the capital, and fame”

— My character Alfiya made me known to the people, I got my own fans. Countless thanks to Allah, I achieved fame with one character. Moreover, the role of this character gave me a house in the capital, a car, money, and happiness, a family, children. It gave me everything a woman needs to say “I am happy, I have everything,” says the actress.

“If I were the Minister of Culture...”

— I hate lying, so to tell the truth, if I were the Minister of Culture, I would have given myself the title of “Honored Artist of Uzbekistan Barno Teshaboyeva”. For 38 years, I have been performing on stage and in shows in a half-squatting position for 40 minutes. Anyone who stands in a half-squatting position for 15 minutes will know: in the end, their legs start shaking from pain. And I have been performing the character of old woman Alfiya with my leg bent like this for many years. I dedicated my whole life to playing the roles of elderly people, says actress Barno Teshaboyeva.