Leyla Abashidze is a truly Georgian actress who does not represent herself outside the homeland. At the Ninth International Film Festival in Moscow, when such movie stars as Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Dean Reed, Raj Kapoor and many other famous actors and film directors gathered together, Leyla Mikhailovna Abashidze was awarded not only fame, but also an offer of a hand and hearts from two financial magnates - multimillionaires from Egypt and Mexico.
The Egyptian offered the actress his film studio, which she could lead as an actor, director and producer, in return for Laila was to share his marital bed with her two first wives.
Emilio Fernandez, the then-famous director and actor, gave her himself and millions. Leyla Abashidze did not choose anyone. She, like Antey, drew strength, imagination, creative inspiration only in her native land.
Actress Biography
Abashidze Leyla Mikhailovna was born on August 1, 1929 in Tiflis (Tbilisi). Father was repressed, and for a long time they lived with their mother in Siberia. Returning to their homeland, they arranged housing in a small room above the bench in which they sold kerosene. Leyla Abashidze spent all her childhood and youth in this place.
Having experienced and experienced a lot, she, as a teenager, starred in the film "Kazhdan" starring Kato - a girl of twelve. The film was shot in 1941. A competition was announced for this role, and little Leila for screen tests was brought by her father's sister. Among other elegant and self-confident children, Leila looked simple and even poor. The girl had a faded dress, instead of curls - an unprofessional haircut. Thick hair climbed into her eyes, closing them, the shoes were of uncertain color on her legs, and the absence of socks was striking in her eyes.
The role of Kato in the film "Kajana"
All applicants for the role of Kato had to play a difficult episode, when the main character weeps and asks God to forgive her and return her brother’s voice, which was numb from her unreasonable joke. Leyla Abashidze so sincerely, with such despair, played this role, cried so much that complete silence reigned in the pavilion of the film studio for several moments.
Having regained consciousness, the director Konstantin Pipinashvili, in order to defuse the situation, jokingly asked a question in terms of the fact that she was crying well, but whether she could laugh and told a funny story. The girl burst into a contagious laugh ...
The actress was appointed to the role of Kato. Konstantin Pipinashvili, prophetically predicting, said that before them is a dramatic and comic actress. In the future, fate more than once reduced actress Leyla Abashidze and director Pipinashvili. She starred in such films of the director as “The Golden Path”, “The Cradle of the Poet”, “On the Threshold of Life”.
Years of study
In 1951, Leila graduated from the acting department of the Tbilisi Theater Institute named after Shota Rustaveli. Until the third year, she studied with Dodo Aleksidze, and from the third year she got to Misha Tumanishvili, a front-line soldier who was given to help Aleksidze, as there were many students. The young student Abashidze played a lot and thoughtfully in student productions, her favorite role was Natalya Petrovna from the production of “A Month in the Village”. It was interesting to watch how Leyla Mikhailovna works. Each word, turn of the head, each gesture was tested many times by it and only after that it was approved.
It is not surprising that the Leila Institute graduates with honors and ends up at the Rustaveli Theater. But before she had time to become a theater actress, she was immediately invited to the cinema. And the girl makes her choice.
Films that brought fame to the actress
The film "Dragonfly" directed by Dolidze flew around the world. In this picture, the actress showed all her talent. She conveys the character of the heroine, her injustice and superficiality with two or three gestures. This is especially noticeable in the scene with the exam, when the girl, "singing all summer", goes to the exam like Calvary, but at the same time hopes for a miracle or her charm.
After this picture, the director N. Sanishvili, together with the scriptwriter A. Vitenson, wrote the script for the comedy film “Splinter” especially for her, where she easily and directly played the chauffeur girl, her contemporary - irreconcilable and uncompromising.
The dramatic talent of Leyla Mikhailovna was clearly expressed in the historical picture of R. Chkheidze "Maya from Tskheneti", where she was supposed to embody the image of a girl, Georgian Jeanne D'Arc. Her heroine is forced to dress up as a man and in this capacity raises a popular rebellion against a local feudal lord.
Then there was another work with the director Sanishvili - "Meeting in the mountains." The film contains beautiful music (Leyla Abashidze herself sings), unexpected twists in the fate of the characters - all this keeps the viewer in a pleasant tension and gives a lot of pleasure.
Abashidze’s next work, “Waiting,” is a film directed by Sh. And M. Managadze. The picture tells about the dramatic fate of a woman who gave her sons to the front. In addition to the fact that Leyla Mikhailovna Abashidze played the main character in the film, she also acted as a screenwriter. The actress liked the process of creating a movie, apparently, so she compensated for the actor’s dissatisfaction. In 1970, Waiting (a film that everyone should watch) at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival receives a prize.
Independent creative work
As an actress, director and screenwriter Leyla Mikhailovna Abashidze worked on the film "Paris - Tiflis and vice versa." Work in three directions is not easy, several people are known who managed to do this, among them - Charlie Chaplin, Vittorio de Sica ...
For collaboration, the actress invited her friends, classmates. This is a lightweight film of the genre, filled with acting and directorial finds.
One of the last works of the actress was the painting "The Cycle", where she played a complex diverse character. The role was winning and spectacular, it is no coincidence that the jury chairman Gregory Peck noted at the Tokyo film festival that he had discovered Georgian cinema, and especially the game of the interesting and original actress Leyla Abashidze.
Leyla Mikhailovna Abashidze plays simply, without excessive external gestures, very collected. Her national trait is manifested in temperament, softness, plasticity, naturalness.
Unfortunately, Leyla Abashidze does not advertise her personal life, but the creativity is in full view. Recently, the actress celebrated the anniversary - the 85th anniversary, which was attended by many fans, friends, relatives and acquaintances.