A GOOD-NATURED VILLAIN

This year we mark the 90th anniversary of the birth of outstanding Azerbaijani actor Malik Dadasov. His face is familiar to every admirer of the home-made movies. He has never played main characters but the overall number of his roles in films is pretty impressive. He performed in Koroglu, The Tempestuous Kura [Azeri: Dali Kur], The Scoundrel [Azeri: Yaramaz], and Tahmina, just to name a few. However, his supporting roles were so expressive that it was next to impossible to forget them. An R+ correspondent spoke about Malik Dadasov with his daughter Gulnara Dadasova. It is with great love and warmth that she recalls her father, though the facts of his biography and milestones of his life as an actor speak for themselves and do not need any embellishment.

In the family

"I had been beside him all my life and was a witness and an ardent admirer of all his roles in the theatre and cinema," Gulnara says. "But above all, I appreciated him as a great father, a kind-hearted person, an excellent family man and a wonderful husband to my mother. While everybody got used to a certain image of a man of iron which he created on stage, especially judging by his roles in the movies, in real life he was a charming and nice man, extremely courteous to all those around him, and in particular to women regardless of their age. Even if I was visited by a school friend whom my father had seen for the first time, he met her with the unvaried gesture of kissing her hand."

Gulnara, who is the last and youngest daughter of the maestro from his third marriage, says that Malik was extremely sociable and cherished family values above all else. He knew how to bring all of his children together, frequently associated with his relatives, acquainted his children with each other and told them the details of their family tree and ancestry. "My father was like a link or cement that held us together," Gulnara says, "and after he passed away in 1996, many contacts ceased to be maintained, it is more difficult for us to get together." Gulnara notes a special energy bond that existed between her father and herself: "I was present at all of his premieres and performances, and it was always very important for him to know my opinion."

In the cinema

Malik Dadasov's main advantage was his truly outstanding talent for impersonation. This is why it is so difficult to correlate the roles he played with the real person. As is known, most of Dadasov's characters were villains. However, it is believed that to play a villain is by the order of magnitude harder than to play a hero. Because for all their bright positivity, "good" characters are often flattened since they are usually free from internal conflicts and struggle, unlike evil characters which are more multifaceted and complicated. Malik Dadasov coped with the task of impersonation so brilliantly that people could not believe he played villains. Once, at the premiere performance of The Last Pass [Azeri: Axirinci asirim] in Moscow, Dadasov, who was standing together with his wife, was approached by the wife of a famous film critic. She wished to meet the actor who played Qamlo and exclaimed in surprise: "So it was you who played this villain? I just cannot believe it, you are such a nice person in reality!" That his performance was superb was also corroborated by a grandson of the real person who served as a prototype for Qamlo. He came to Malik Dadasov after the performance and enthusiastically said, "You did not know my grandfather. How could you have impersonated him so accurately?"

An eccentric dancer

As with many well-known performers of the time, Malik Dadasov's career began with dance. He was a professional dancer like Amina Dilbazi, Leyla Badirbayli and other famous people of that era. "There is a funny story associated with Amina Dilbazi," Gulnara Dadasova recalls. "In summer, all of us went on holiday to Zugulba. There, one could meet famous figures of culture and art. So, when my father met Amina in the street while taking a walk with my mother, my mother would quickly step aside because Malik and Amina, after loudly greeting each other, began doing dance steps right in the middle of the street!"

Although acting was Malik's conscious choice, he started with another performing art. Being a first-year student of the medical school, he went to the battlefields of World War II, came as far as Warsaw, but received a concussion and was demobilised. After returning home, Malik Dadasov enrolled in the Institute of Arts for a course of Adil Isgandarov with whom he used to play on stage. He began his arts career with the State Dance Ensemble and more than once starred in the dance crowd in many films along with other prominent dancers of that era.

In the theatre

One of the most memorable characters played by Malik Dadasov was that of Mendel Krik based on Isaac Babel's play Sunset. In the play, staged at the Russian Drama Theatre by Cannat Salimova, Dadasov performed along with such outstanding actors of the time as Rahil Ginsburg (Mendel Krik's wife), Alexander Sharovski and Safa Mirzahasanov (Krik's sons), Nataliya Bagirova-Tagiyeva (Krik's daughter Dvoyra). This is a story about a small-town Jew, his family and his life full of setbacks and difficulties, where the father is a hard worker, boisterous boozer and sprightly reveller whereas his children are consumers. Mendel Krik is the most dramatic character of the play and the finale is the most tragic scene: during one of the family celebrations, the old man gets embroiled in another scandal with his sons, who put pressure on him, and suffers a stroke. He loses his faculty of speech but is still alive, while those at the table immediately begin to share his property. Unable to bear it all, Mendel Krik dies by the end of the scene.

Music for this great piece of drama was composed by Leonid Weinstein; the effect of background music enhances the action taking place on stage. This performance invariably drew capacity audiences at the Azerbaijani theatres and enjoyed great success on tour in Odessa and St Petersburg. "We went on a tour to Odessa for a short time," Gulnara Dadasova says, "but the play was such a resounding success that it was decided to extend the tour. In St Petersburg, my father was recognised in the street...." No less than Georgy Tovstonogov [a famous Russian theatre director] called his performance the best of all Mendel Kriks played.

Sadly, this play which was successfully staged more than 200 times is not in our archive. The only record is kept in the St Petersburg Royal Archives. Despite our repeated requests and lengthy engagements through official channels, we have been unable to buy this precious record that is bound to enrich the creative and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan.

Along with acting, Malik Dadasov tried his hand in directing too. He staged a performance based on Sabit Rahman's play Nisanli qiz (Engaged Girl) starring Amaliya Panahova, Sayavus Aslan, Rafayel Dadasov, son of Malik Dadasov, and Zemfira Narimanova. The performance was a great success, and Malik Dadasov's further plans included staging [Uzeyir Hacibayov's] famous operetta Arsin mal alan [Cloth Peddler]. However, he was continually hindered in his efforts for unknown reasons, and eventually the production was frozen.

At the ebb of his life, Malik Dadasov's dream was to play King Lear. Although he had already played one of Shakespeare's characters, Macbeth, late in life he wished to perform in one of the most powerful and dramatic works of Shakespeare.

Malik Dadasov was the first Azerbaijani actor invited to play in Hollywood. He successfully passed screen tests, but the star of his brilliant life was suddenly extinguished at that moment...