In the fall of 2012, a series of Russian-Ukrainian production under the exotic name "Jamaica" was released on television. Actors of the project at the time of its release were little-known, except for Daria Poverennova and Maxim Radugin, but soon almost everyone who starred in this television movie became famous.
The plot of the series "Jamaica"
So what brought such incredible success to the project that it was able to bypass the majority of domestic and foreign TV shows in the popularity rating according to the version of the stock broker magazine?
First of all, this is of course the plot, which is based on the difficult fate of the girl Natasha Dzhamayeva, nicknamed "Jamaica". The real mother of the heroine died during childbirth, and the young father, not knowing what to do with the baby, threw her to the door of someone else's house. The janitor found the baby and raised her as her own daughter.
Years passed, Natasha grew, and her voice turned out to be amazingly beautiful. Meanwhile, the girl’s adoptive mother was drinking, so the girl had to sweep the streets in her place and sing on the street in order to earn a living.
One day, guys from a neighboring yard committed a robbery. To avert suspicion from them, their parents blamed all the blame on Natasha. A criminal case was opened against an innocent girl, and the investigation was entrusted to Sergei Rykov. At first, the young investigator was ready to prove the innocence of the girl, but having fallen in love with her, he considered it his moral duty to refuse to conduct business.
His colleague Gabriella Semashko, who had feelings for him, was jealous of Rykov and ensured that the new investigator put Jamaev in prison. However, Sergei still did not answer her feelings and married her younger sister Margot, and soon a baby was born in their family.
Several years have passed. All this time, Jamaica learned to adapt to the difficult life in prison. Despite enmity with some prisoners, she managed to remain a worthy person. Fateful for the girl was meeting with Anna Ivanovna - a teacher in the colony. Having considered Natasha’s real talent, she took her under her wing. The teacher found a vocal teacher for the talented prisoner, and soon Jamaica mastered the basics of musical notation, learned to control her voice and began to read good books.
Natasha’s adoptive mother, completely disappointed in people, committed suicide. This forced Rykov to repent of his act and still help Dzhamayeva gain freedom. Here are just old feelings for the girl flashed with renewed vigor, and he did not know what to do.
Gaby, meanwhile, is trying hard to provoke a conflict between her sister and Jamaica. In the end, she herself pushes her sister off a cliff, and she falls into a coma. Guilty of everything, everyone considers Jamaica and put the girl on the wanted list. To save Natasha, Anna Ivanovna helps her to undergo plastic surgery and get new documents. Together they go in search of the real mother of Jamaica, and also try to help Margot regain consciousness, as she is the only one who can prove Natasha’s innocence.
The main characters of the project
In addition to the intricate plot, the popularity of the series “Jamaica” was ensured by the actors and the roles that they performed so well. Many viewers accused the project of being overly prolonged, but continued to watch it for the sake of their favorite heroes.
The main character Natasha Dzhamaeva (actress Lyudmila Svitova) is a sincere and vulnerable girl. However, she is very courageous and able to repulse anyone who tries to harm her. The character of Jamaica is ambiguous: on the one hand, she is ready to give her life for relatives and loved ones, on the other hand, she can give up personal happiness if for this she must act dishonorably. Having changed her appearance, she gets a gardener in the house of her real mother Victoria Samgina under the name of Valentina.
Natasha’s mother - Victoria Samgina (Daria Poverennova) - appears only in the fifteenth series. Once in her youth she gave birth to a child who was lost. Although now, after so many years, Victoria has been able to achieve everything that you can dream of (a successful business, a loving husband and daughter, your home and position in society), thoughts about the lost child continue to torment her. By the nature of Samghin, she is very similar to her eldest daughter, only matured and wise by experience. However, unlike Natasha, Victoria is quite an impressionable and amorous woman. Because of this, she periodically has novels on the side.
Sergei Rykov (actor Maxim Radugin) is an investigator in love with Jamaica. Honest servant of the law, and then a private lawyer. Like Samghin, he is quite amorous and sometimes weak-willed. Thanks to his trait, Gaby manages to crank up many of his intrigues. During the series, he was in love with Margo, then with Jamaica, and then with Samghina. Closer to the finale, he gets confused in his feelings and tries to sort them out.
Gabriella (Gabi) Semashko (actress Natalya Rudova). One of the brightest and most complex characters. This is a beautiful strong and inventive girl, from childhood accustomed to receive everything that she wishes. Everything changes when she falls in love with Rykov - Gaby becomes literally obsessed with him. To achieve reciprocity, she goes to any meanness and crime. But Sergei still does not have feelings for her. That is why Gaby focuses all her hatred on Natasha, and then on his sister Margot. Ultimately, she becomes the cause of her father's suicide.
Another character in the series obsessed with Jamaica is Nina Tikhaya (actress Catherine Kisten). Having disliked the girl back in the colony, she tried with all her might to break and even kill her. However, through the efforts of Anna Ivanovna, all her attempts were unsuccessful. Having been released, Ninka continues to pursue Natasha, dreaming of destroying her.
Anna Ivanovna (actress Vita Smachelyuk) is a teacher of Russian language and literature in the colony. Intelligent and well-mannered woman. Very smart and inventive. One of the best-written images of the television series. Constantly saves Jamaica from various troubles. At the same time, from her lips, viewers often hear verses of classics of literature, and this gives the series “Jamaica” a highlight. Dr. Oleg Panin is in love with her, and she reciprocates with him, however, a serious relationship is established between them only at the end of the series.
Ivan Kharitonov (actor Vitaly Egorov) is a conductor in love with the main character. As a man of art, has a rather soft and compliant character. However, at the time of danger, he manifests himself as a real man.
It is worth noting that there are a lot of male characters in the project, but they are all rather poorly registered and look secondary against the background of the heroines of the series “Jamaica”. The actors who performed male roles are pretty good in themselves, but their heroes are all weak and weak-willed, making it easy to control themselves. Thus, this project could not sufficiently interest the male audience.
The film "Jamaica": actors who starred
Before participating in the Jamaica, the Russian actress Lyudmila Svitova managed to star in several TV series both in secondary roles and in the main ones (Volkova Hour 3, Institute of Noble Maidens, Cucumber Love, Made in the USSR), and also in films (“Hear My Heart”, “Lyubov.ru” and others). Most often, the actress was allowed to play the role of village girls of the Soviet period. However, in Lyubov.ru, she played an uncharacteristic image of a rich beauty looking for her true love.
Interestingly, in “Jamaica” Svitova was perfectly able to show her character changes: from a simple girl from a provincial town to a charming woman in a big city. It is noteworthy that although the actress herself sings well, the Ukrainian actress Galina Bezruk sang instead of her in the series. She also played in this television movie.
Before this project, Russian actor
Maxim Radugin managed to star in many TV shows and be loved by the audience: Ranetki, Circus Princess, Lily of the Valley Silver-2, Engagement Ring and many other series - here is a short list of them. Thanks to the unusual and attractive appearance, Maxim very often acts in the role of foreigners and teachers.
At the dawn of her career, Russian actress Daria Poverennova played episodic roles in Yeralash, but she was remembered by the audience on the Russian-Ukrainian TV series Bourgeois’s Birthday and its sequel.
Oddly enough, this actress played her most memorable roles in the television series of Russian-Ukrainian production, among which “Guardian Angel” and, of course, “Jamaica”. Also in the track record of Daria is a huge number of episodic roles in various television films.
Other actors in the series "Jamaica"
This project also helped ignite other television stars. Among them, Ukrainian actress Galina Bezruk, who played housekeeper Dusya. By the way, it was she who was the “voice” of Jamaica. After participating in the project, the actress became very popular. She played one of the main roles in the joint Russian-Ukrainian projects “While the Village is Sleeping” and its continuation, “The Last Janissary”. Today, Galina is very much in demand in her homeland and is often removed. In 2014, with her participation, five series were released, another five - in 2015.
Also, in addition to the main trinity, there were actors in the series "Jamaica" who became popular even before participating in the project. Among them is the star of Tatyana’s Day Natalia Rudova. Despite the fact that the actress has a model appearance, she got on television at a fairly mature age. However, this did not stop her from pursuing a fast-paced career. Before “Jamaica”, she managed to star in such TV shows: “Breathe with me”, “Gyulchatay”, “Amazon”, “Univer. New hostel ”and other projects. It is worth noting that Rudova has established herself as a dramatic actress, so most often she is assigned to play complex characters. She also starred in a candid photo shoot for the Maxim men's magazine.
Some actors who starred in the series "Jamaica" became famous before participating in this project. The popularity of Maria Lugovoi brought the role of the blind pianist Tasi in the series "Red". However, after the “Redheads”, Lugovoy was not very often removed. Her character in "Jamaica" is quite similar to the heroine from the "Red". Sometimes it seems that the authors of the script did not thoroughly work out the image of the heroine of Mary, as a result, she turned out to be faded and lost among other television movie actresses.
The second largest negative heroine of "Jamaica" was played by the wonderful Kiev theater and film actress Ekaterina Kisten.
Prior to this project, she starred in many films and television series of Russian and Ukrainian production. Mostly these were secondary roles, but thanks to the talent, the actress perfectly transforms into completely different characters, each of which is not like the other.
Incredible success brought the project "Jamaica" the actors and the roles they performed. Despite the absence of decisive male characters, the script writers did pretty well for women. And a whole galaxy of talented actresses breathed life into them. Perhaps this and, of course, the intriguing plot allowed Jamaica to gain enormous popularity and audience love.