HEROES THAT ACTOR BROUGHT TO LIFE

When a sad event falls like a heavy rock on a person's shoulders, it is not confined to pain that envelops all of him. It turns into a raging sea, reflecting inner resentment in the person's face and eyes. On one of such days, I managed to see Hasanaga Turabov up-close. Characters that he played in the theatre, TV shows and movies came to life before my eyes. He lost a lot of weight and his eyes fell in. The thing that saddened me the most about him was silent grief in his eyes. The only thing he retained was his proud posture... There are people who have raised us as a nation. It is on their shoulders that our history, literature, culture, and science rest. Hasanaga Turabov was one of such people. He seemed to be destined to love the theatre.

In the vicinity of drama theatre

The birth of Hasanaga Turabov on 24 March 1934 gave his parents endless happiness and hope. All of their children born before - five boys and one girl - had died. The baby boy's parents named him after his grandfather - Hasanaga. After him, one more boy arrived, whom they named Aydin. Although his official name was Hasanaga Turabov, everyone knew him as Hasan. People added the word "aga" to his name later on, as a sign of respect.

He grew up in Baku's Zargarpalan neighbourhood. Their house was not far from the Academic National Drama Theatre, and his father often took him there. This is how he developed love for the theatre. And it grew up along with him. He began to attend amateur drama theatres when he went to school No 32. After graduating from secondary school in 1955, he went to the Mirzaaga Aliyev Azerbaijani State Theatre Institute to make his long-standing dream come true. He applied to the acting department and joined Mehdi Mammadov's course. Once at the institute, they staged the play "Haci Qara". Adil Isgandarov, who was following the production, told him: "You should play not comic but dramatic roles". This advice encouraged him and later on had an impact on his choice of roles as an actor.

After graduating from the institute in 1960, Turabov started to work at the Academic National Drama Theatre, which played an important role in his life and work. First, when he was still very young, he already performed there in the plays of Azerbaijani and foreign authors alongside outstanding masters of the stage like Alasgar Alakbarov, Hokuma Qurbanova, Mohsun Sanani, Ismayil Osmanli, Ismayil Dagistanli, Agadadas Qurbanov, Leyla Badirbayli, and other popular actors. Hasanaga Turabov soon became known as a lead actor. He played Vahid in "Kandci Qiz", Azar in "Yaxsi adam", Hamlet in the tragedy by the same name, Lionel in "The maid of Orleans", Iskandar in "Olular", etc.

New page in work

Turabov's performance attracted the attention of filmmakers as well. He started receiving invitations to act in movies. There, he created memorable characters like Afsin ("Babak"), Garay bay ("My seven sons"), Xalil ("The last mountain pass"), Murad ("Heart... Heart"), Kabarlinski ("Dante's anniversary"), Asad ("Abduction of the bridegroom"), Cafar ("Do not be afraid, I am with you"), Qacaq Nabi ("Qacaq Nabi")... In the movie "Qacaq Nabi", together with Abdul Mahmudov he tried himself as a production director as well. Hasanaga Turabov's last works in the cinema were the role of Ismayil ("Family", 1998) and a year later the role of an investigator in the film "What a wonderful world..."

Each role brought him fame, regardless of the nature of the role and of whether it was a lead role, a secondary role or a very small one. However, the film "My seven sons" occupies a special place in Turabov's work. He was only 32 back then. An actor was wanted to play Garay bay. On recommendation by Adil Isgandarov, Hasanaga Turabov was also invited for an audition. The young actor was confirmed for the role after the very first audition.

The role of Garay bay that he played was a new page not only in Turabov's work, but in Azerbaijani cinema overall. In the country of the soviets, which declared bays [a title of nobility] and aga's an enemy, the bay played by Hasanaga Turabov appeared as a true hero. Garay bay is splendid with his greatness in the scene where he shoots himself in the temple after Komsomol member Baxtiyar is told "go tell Sari Samistan to kill Garay bay". The inclusion of this part in the film was an act of heroism in itself. That is Adil Isgandarov's incomparable merit.

After "My seven sons" was released, everybody identified Hasanaga Turabov with Garay bay. It was impossible not to see a similarity between the way the two men were. Both were noble, proud, adamant, and true to their word. But praise was not the only thing Hasanaga Turabov received. He also received criticism, which was sometimes even unfair. Some people were against his acting in the film "Qacag Nabi", saying that Hasanaga was too old for the role of Nabi. However, everyone was unanimous that he was a talented actor. It was impossible to deny this.

Family, work

He was also happily married to a woman he loved. Solmaz xanim ["xanim" is a polite mode of address or reference to a woman] went to the same school as him, one grade lower. It was then that they fell in love with each other. They promised each other to be faithful to their love, and the years they spent together proved it. After Solmaz xanim was admitted to the Institute of Foreign Languages, the young pair decided to marry. But the girl's relatives said "no" to matchmakers that Hasanaga Turabov sent [to ask the girl's family to let her marry him]. Her parents did not want their daughter to marry an actor. Despite this, the young people stayed faithful to their love and created a family in 1960. Their three children - sons Dasqin and Yalcin and daughter Sevinc - decorated the life of the happy family.

The policy of perestroika that the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, conducted affected the Academic National Drama Theatre as well. In 1987, staff at the theatre received the right to choose their manager. There were two candidates - Hasanaga Turabov and Malik Dadasov. Staff chose Hasanaga Turabov. This is how he became the first elected director of the theatre, where he worked for many years. During his leadership, the theatre was completely renovated, and many works of classical and contemporary authors were staged there. However, administrative concerns hindered his creative work. He asked young actors he believed in to perform most of his roles.

The managing position he held spoilt his relations with many people. Amaliya Panahova, Fuad Poladov, Safiqa Mammadova and many other actors failed to accept him in his new capacity and left for other theatres. But there were many who did love the tough and formidable director.

Hasanaga Turabov was very disciplined and very responsible about his job. His gullibility was his weakest side. People often deceived him and gave him false information. Sometimes he trusted people and then was very angry.

In spite of everything, life was still beautiful for him. He enjoyed great authority in the world of arts. He was acknowledged and respected. His family looked forward to him coming back home from work and met him with a smile. This lasted until 1997. His children had received higher education. His daughter had followed in the footsteps of her mother and became a German teacher. Although his Sons graduated from the University of Culture and Arts, they did not follow his path. Both worked in the police.

Tragedy and departure

His elder son Dasqin, a police captain, was appointed as head of the department to combat drug abuse in Siyazan. Dasqin arrived in Baku on 8 March 1997. He congratulated his mother and sister [on the occasion of 8 March, Women's Day]. As he was going back [to Siyazan], he promised his sister to visit again on 17 March for her birthday. On the morning of 10 March, they received a phone call from Siyazan - Dasqin had been shot by a criminal he was going to arrest. They wanted to send a doctor to the district, but it was too late...

The death of 35-year-old Dasqin shocked the family. It was impossible to console Hasanaga Turabov. There were no tears in his eyes. Perhaps they ran straight into his heart... Perhaps that was the reason his heart failed to withstand such grief. Turabov, who had never complained about his health, was laid up with a serious illness. Doctors examined him and recommended an urgent surgery. But no-one would agree to do it because he was in a serious condition.

The surgery was performed in Iran. It was successful. But his joy of life and desire to live left him alongside his son. There was grief in his eyes. He was aggrieved at life.

Hasanaga Turabov managed the Academic National Drama Theatre for 14 years. He knew that many wanted to have his post, that there was a secret struggle for leadership, that people dug pits for him. Since the very first day he was the director of the theatre there was alienation in his relations with some of his colleagues. He remained at loggerheads with some of them until his last day. He left the management of the theatre unexpectedly. He quit his post in 2001. Many thought that his departure was the result of an unfair attitude towards him. Turabov went on to work in the Union of Theatrical Figures.

In the last years of his life, he gave all the love he had to his grandson, whom he named after his son - Dasqin. He dreamt of the day his five-year-old grandson would go to school. He had one more dream - to stage the play "Sah Qacar" together with a close friend, the leader of the "Yug" theatre, director Vaqif Ibrahimoglu. He wanted to play the role of Mahammad Shah Qacar. He did not make it.

... Grief made him silent. He spent hours silently looking at a photo of his son on the wall in his home. There was only one word he uttered with his last breath: "Dasqin".

Hasanaga Turabov died after a long illness on 23 February 2003. News of his death saddened everyone who loved him. When the news came of the decision to bury him in the Alley of Honour, his wife shared Turabov's last wish. Shortly before he died, he asked, without taking his eyes off of his son photograph: "If I die, let them bury me next to Dasqin".

The last wish of the prominent master was honoured. Hasanaga Turabov was buried next to his son in "Qurd qapisi" cemetery. The end of his long anguish arrived...