The film "Only Old Men Go to Battle" was shot almost 45 years ago. Despite this, to this day, every TV show on the TV collects people of different ages on TV screens. One of the main reasons for the popularity of this film directed by Leonid Bykov is the magnificent cast, which, along with recognized stars of Soviet cinema, included talented young people. Among the heroes of the film, Romeoâs audience especially liked it. He was played by the Uzbek actor Rustam Sagdullaev, whose biography and work is dedicated to this article.
Childhood
Rustam Abdullaevich Sagdullaev was born in 1950 in Tashkent. From childhood, he âfell illâ with the theater and already in the years of study at school began to study in the drama circle of the House of Pioneers.
Rustamâs idol was actor George Millar, who played Koshchei and Babu Yaga in the tales of Alexander Rowe. The boy tried to imitate his beloved artist, and he succeeded. As Rustam's classmates recall, at school New Year's performances, he always with great success played the role of fabulous villains, which enthused peers and teachers.
At the same time, the family did not encourage the hobby of his son. Rustam's father held an important post of secretary of the regional party committee and hoped that the guy would choose a serious profession. Abdulla Sagdullaev was always busy, so their mother-housewife was mainly engaged in the upbringing of the boy and his sister. She was a strict woman, and for disobedience she could punish the restless boy with a belt in her hearts.
Debut
For the first time in the movie, Rustam Sagdullaev starred in 1964 at the age of 13. Once, an assistant director Ravil Batyrov came to a drama circle at the Palace of Pioneers and invited several guys to the casting for the film "tightrope walkers". Of the 300 students in Tashkent schools, they chose smiling Rustam, since his bright talent was impossible not to notice. So the future Romeo was on the set next to the stars of Uzbek cinema R. Hamraev, K. Khojaev, S. Burkhanov and others.
Film career
The talented teenager so well coped with his role in the film "tightrope walkers" that immediately after the film debut he received an offer to star in several more films. They became the films âWhite, White Storksâ and âTendernessâ.
The next film work by Sagdullaev was the role of Rustam in the melodrama âLoversâ. Together with him, the future stars of Soviet cinema Anastasia Vertinskaya and Rodion Nakhapetov were involved in the film. The painting was a great success and made the Uzbek rising star famous far beyond the borders of the republic.
In the next 3 years, the actor also starred a lot, and the viewer had the opportunity to see him in the films âIntegralâ, âWithout Fearâ and âMy Good Manâ.
âOnly old people go into battleâ
To this day, Rustam Sagdullaev is pleased to meet with the actors with whom he starred in this legendary film dedicated to the pilots who defended their homeland during the Great Patriotic War.
The picture, which was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most often shown on television, was initially doomed to success. Director Leonid Bykov put his whole soul into it and demanded the same from the actors.
Few know that Rustam Sagdullaev, biography whom you already knew in his youth, he wanted to give up the role of Romeo and go home to Tashkent.
The fact is that he and Sergei Ivanov, who played the junior lieutenant âGrasshopperâ, managed to accidentally view part of the footage. Rustam was horrified when he saw himself next to the beautiful Eugenia Simonova. He came to Bykov and asked to be replaced, as he considered that a more attractive and representative actor should play the role of Romeo.
The director was indignant at the negligence of those who allowed the actors to see the shot scenes. However, he refused to satisfy the request of Sagdullaev. Rustam began to insist. Then Bykov announced that he would remove Simonova from the role and replace her with a less attractive girl, but he would leave him in any case. As it turned out later, the director was absolutely right. The acting duet of Simonova and Sagdullaeva was enthusiastically greeted by the audience, and their heroes were loved by millions of people in a huge country.
Further career
Already being a famous actor, Rustam Sagdullaev, whose films were very popular among the Soviet audience, entered the Tashkent Theater and Art Institute. A. Ostrovsky, who graduated in 1975.
In subsequent years (before the collapse of the USSR), he starred in such films as:
- âUnforgettable songâ;
- âThe Tale of Two Soldiersâ;
- âWhat are our yearsâ;
- âThis guy has returned ...â;
- âTwo chapters from the family chronicleâ;
- âHot Summer in Kabulâ;
- "Hostage";
- âFlip according to instructionsâ;
- âGoodbye, greenery of summerâ;
- âSecret journey of Emirâ;
- "Meaning of life";
- "Shock".
Personal life
By eastern standards, Rustam Sagdullaev married very late when he was well over 30. Perhaps, deep down in his soul, he foresaw a meeting with true love. And she came! Juliet for the âAll-Union Romeoâ was the 22-year-old Marina. The girl worked at Uzbekfilm, where she was the head of the sewing workshop. During the filming of the film âShock,â Rustam came there to pick up his costume. Usually, his colleagues gave chocolate to the seamstresses in gratitude for the work done. And Sagdullaev looked into the workshop empty-handed and simply said âThank youâ to the girls. Then the brisk Marina shouted after him: âAnd all that?â The actor was not taken aback and suggested that the beauty give her children. As it turned out, he was not joking!
Novel
Rustam Sagdullaev began to appear frequently in the sewing workshop, however, Marina, having heard about the frivolity of the actors, rejected the courtship of the star. However, over time, the girl realized that she was an extremely kind, decent and lonely person.
As soon as Marina gave her consent, he immediately led her to the registry office. Employees of this institution were confused at the sight of âRomeoâ. He managed to convince him to paint with Marina without witnesses and a three-month wait. However, when the newlyweds came home, the mother of the bride found that, in confusion at the registry office, they marked âPassportedâ instead of âRegisteredâ in their passports. The mistake had to be corrected, and many considered it a bad omen. However, this did not stop Rustam and Marina from becoming parents of their son and daughter, and recently they celebrated the 30th anniversary of their wedding.
In the 90s
After the collapse of the USSR, invitations to act in films began to come to Rustam less and less. He became depressed, because it was hard for him to feel his lack of demand and inability to provide financially for his wife and children. To help her husband came his beloved Marina, who began to sew for sale. Thanks to the money she earned, the family was able to survive the dashing nineties, and after Rustam again began to receive invitations from directors, and everything returned to normal. True, Marina, which already had many clients, decided to establish her own business and today is the owner of a fashion studio.
Film career after 2000
Sagdullaev entered the new millennium as the owner of the Ravshan-film studio and director. His first project in this capacity was the 10-series painting âBlindâ, in which the actor played the main role of Alisher Gapparovich. For this project, Sagdullaev received a 3rd degree diploma of the Moscow International Television Film Festival. Later, in 2003, Rustam Abdullaevich was awarded the Order of St. George.
He has been filming a lot lately. Among the films and series with his participation, shot in the last decade, one can note such works as âTwo Comrades Servedâ, âPurely Moscow Murdersâ, âPenaltyâ, âPrincess from the Northâ, âGrigory R.â and so forth