The wife of a famous director, the Uzbek voice of Oshin and the beautiful woman, Sayyora Yunusova is 70 years old: why did she not want to be famous?

The wife of a famous director, the Uzbek voice of "Oshin" and "Beauty": Sayyora Yunusova turns 70 — why did she not want to be famous?

Honored Artist of Uzbekistan Sayyora Yunusova, who gave the Uzbek voice to the main character of the TV series "Oshin" and is well known to audiences for dozens of roles in theater and cinema, celebrated her 70th birthday on September 22. On this occasion, we take a look at the life and career of the actress, who prefers the theater stage to acting in films.

Sayyora Yunusova was born in 1956 in Tashkent into an intellectual family. Her father was a military officer, and her mother was a dentist. The actress was the youngest child in the family and had an older brother.

About the actress's childhood years

— I studied at School No. 20 in the Workers' Town of Tashkent. I prefer to be by myself and daydream. I must have been like this since childhood. My parents used to lock my brother and me at home and go to work. As soon as they left, we loved to go up to the roof to watch the sky and make all kinds of things in the attic, says the actress.

"We used to make dolls out of wood"

— I have been interested in art since my youth. In those days, there were no ready-made dolls. We made them ourselves out of wood, attached heads, added hair, and sewed clothes. Then I would make theater curtains on my own and set up a stage scene. This was just a game, nothing more. At that time, I didn't think about becoming an actress in the future, says Sayyora Yunusova.

"My parents didn't allow us to watch TV"

— My parents didn't allow us to watch TV much. They would tell us to watch the show "Good night, children" at 22:00 and go to sleep immediately. I would say yes, but when they watched movies, I wouldn't sleep and would watch through the crack in the door. At that time, I didn't think of the people on the screen as actors; I imagined that their lives were really like that. Later, when they told me that they were actors playing roles in movies, I started to want to be an actor deep down inside. But I didn't tell anyone about it then, she says.

"My father was a gentle man. Maybe I am like my father too"

— During the war, by a twist of fate, my father became a military man; life forced him to do so. When my father heard that I wanted to be an actress, he didn't scold me, but slowly explained the difficulties of this profession. He was such a calm man. Maybe I inherited this gentleness from him. But my late mother was a strict and demanding woman, just like Zaynab Sadriyeva.

Even though my mother worked in the medical field, she was an "actress" in life. As for me, although I am an actress on stage, I cannot be like that in life. She was a woman who freely expressed her opinion to everyone. After graduating from school, she wanted to go to Mukarrama Turgunboyeva's ensemble to become a singer or a dancer, but my grandfather did not allow her.

Thank God, my late parents did not object to my pursuing a career in art. I am extremely grateful to them for this.

"When I said I wanted to be an actress, everyone laughed at me"

— When I was graduating from school, guests came to our house. They asked what I wanted to be in the future. When I said I wanted to be an actress, they all laughed at me, saying, "Are you going to be an artist?". I was very deeply hurt by this. That was when my heart leaped, and I said, "I will show you all who I am."

"Your daughter is an artist, you are liars"

After graduating from school, Sayyora Yunusova secretly applied to the Tashkent State Institute of Theater and Art in 1973. She initially enrolled in the puppet theater acting department. However, due to a lack of teachers in this field, she later continued her studies in the drama acting department.

— Even though they told me that I would not make an actor because I had never memorized a single poem in my life and had not attended any clubs, I entered the institute secretly from everyone. My mother hid this from relatives, saying, "My daughter is studying in the field of preschool education." In those days, diploma performances were shown on television. Relatives who saw me on the screen said to my mother, "Your daughter is an artist, you are liars." But later, after the public warmly received my role in the play "Zebuniso," those same relatives who had laughed at me came to visit our house and presented my mother with a chapon. Back then, I was amazed to see the hypocrisy of our relatives.

"I couldn't believe I was hired at the theater"

Sayyora Yunusova has been working at the Uzbek National Academic Drama Theater since 1977. During her career, her roles in plays such as "The Golden Wall," "Zebuniso," and "Hamlet" brought the actress success.

— I am a happy actress. Because, although there were three courses at the institute, among them were very beautiful girls who deserved to be actresses. As for me, I came to the theater to ask for a job just as I was.

At first, I couldn't believe I was hired. At that time, an artistic council commission consisting of more than 15 elderly and experienced artists conducted the examination. We built decorations for them and performed three excerpts from plays. I still remember today how, seeing the council members coming, I panicked and ran away, saying, "I won't be an actress." Then the boys dragged me back. I performed in three roles. After that, the discussion began, and the members of the artistic council went into Bahodir Yuldoshev's office. Then they called me in too, questioned me, and hired me.

"I used to think of actors as divine people"

Photo: Instagram/@milliy_teatr

— When I was coming to the theater building for the first time, my excitement was so strong that I got off the transport early and walked. Standing in front of O'rda, it seemed as if light was radiating from the theater building. I just walked along this light. At that time, I thought of actors as divine people. When I looked, they were all ordinary people. They would hurt each other and gossip. Back then, I was disappointed in them. If someone was badmouthed in the theater, I would feel uncomfortable. In my opinion, the stage is a place where you should go with a clean heart, otherwise you cannot make the audience believe in your performance.

"I came quietly, I want to leave quietly"

— I never wanted to be a star and appear on television. I wanted to live inside the theater. As I said, because my worldview was simple, the actors also looked at me with surprise. Later, after I understood this environment, I got used to everything. For example, today I do not get involved in various gossips. I come straight to work, do my job, and leave. Actors are very emotional. They can suddenly think of something and do unexpected things. I want to stay away from such disagreements. Life is given once. Why should we see bad things in this short life of ours? One sun and one sky are enough for everyone, yet people fight over land and wage wars. You feel like asking, what is the need for all this?

"I met my husband at the theater"

Sayyora Yunusova married film director Jahongir Qosimov in 1984. The family has two sons, a daughter, and several grandchildren. According to reports, all of the actress's children work in the field of art. Her eldest son, like his father, chose the profession of a director.

— When my husband came to the theater to stage his diploma play, he noticed me. Through a friend of his who worked at the theater, we gradually got acquainted, and later he sent matchmakers. Then, as fate would have it, we got married within a short time. One after another, we had children. All of our children grew up in the theater. I even brought my daughter onto the stage when she was one and a half years old. Since we needed money financially at that time, I did not stay on three years of maternity leave and returned to work immediately after six months.

In those days, thinking that I couldn't handle the main characters, I mostly played supporting roles. One day, in the play "Horizon," I had to play the role of one of the women seeing their husbands off to the front. At that time, since there was not a single free person backstage to hold my daughter, I didn't know where to put her. Then Muqaddas Kholikova advised me: "Why think about it, wrap her in a winter woolen shawl and take her onto the stage with you. Women of that period also had young children, didn't they?" Doing as Muqaddas said, I took the child onto the stage with me and said to her, "My daughter, your father is going to the army, say goodbye." Then my one-and-half-year-old daughter, not afraid of the dark hall, said, "Goodbye, father." After the play, the late Jamshid Zokirov said, "You ruined everything, why did you bring your child onto the stage? Now she will also catch the actress disease."

"Oshin was my first dubbing role on television"

Sayyora Yunusova also worked productively in the field of dubbing. She voiced Nigora in the film "The Rebellion of the Brides" and Belle in the cartoon "Beauty and the Beast." Furthermore, she gave the Uzbek voice to the little character Oshin in the famous TV series "Oshin," filmed by Japanese filmmakers.

— "Oshin" is considered my first dubbing work on television. Before that, I had voiced Nigora in "The Rebellion of the Brides" at the film studio. In those days, the procedure was different; we would first watch the film completely and then voice it from beginning to end.

After the dubbing process moved to the television system, voicing the series "Oshin" was very difficult for me. Because in the new system, four actors had to voice all the roles in the series. Sanjar Sa'dullayev, Omon Abdurazzoqov, Oybarchin Bakirova, and I voiced the series. Since I was the youngest in the team, I struggled a lot during the process. If I made a mistake somewhere, the elders would look and clear their throats. To me, even that felt like a reprimand. Back then, Barchin opa helped me a lot. She always taught me, "Never listen to those around you," Sayyora Yunusova recalled her late mentor Oybarchin Bakirova.