"HE WHO LIVES IN JOY FULFILS THE WILL OF THE CREATOR"

Actor, director and the most colourful member of the KVN (Club of the Cheerful and the Witty) team 'Boys from Baku', Bahram Bagirzada, can be funny and sad, ironic and serious. But he always remains sparklingly witty and considerate. This man has an amazing variety of unique images. But what is Bahram Bagirzada like in real life? What is behind the cheerful disposition of the famous 'boy in a cap'? Bahram Bagirzada spoke to R+ on this and many other things in an interview.

- Bahram, you have been involved in book publishing of late. You recently published a collection called 'And Again, Salam!' which you dedicated to KVN. Tell us about your new book...

- I dedicated this book to the 50th anniversary of KVN, the 20th anniversary of the team 'Boys from Baku' and the 10th anniversary of the theatre 'Planet Boys from Baku'. The book includes anecdotes that I have been collecting for a long time, jokes and sketches that I once uttered from the stage. By the way, it also included sketches which I have not yet played, but I am sure and hope that everything is still ahead. In early November, when our team takes part in a jubilee KVN concert at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, I will present the book 'And Again, Salam!' to my colleagues on the stage and KVN president Aleksandr Maslyakov. We already know that this festival of humour will bring together representatives of 14 CIS countries. Rumour has it that presidents of states will be sitting in the hall as guests.

Last year, I published a book called 'The City of My Youth', which included memoirs of Sakit Mammadov, Rustam Ibrahimbayov, Xayyam Mirzazada, Cingiz Abdullayev, Oqtay Zulfuqarov and other prominent citizens of Baku. On its pages, each of the characters in the book recalls a certain period in the history of Baku and talks about his childhood and adolescence in his native city, which we, today's young residents of the capital, have not seen. And all this is against the backdrop of photographs of our beloved city, which, incidentally, I have included in a CD under the same name. Currently, we are collecting information for the next book, which will be dedicated to eminent citizens of Baku. In the near future, we plan to release a book about Icari Sahar. So we have plenty of work to do.

- In addition to books, you are fond of photography. They say you have a huge collection of pictures. Why such love for photography?

- My late father Arif Bagirzada loved photography. As a child, I loved to view his black-and-white photographs and there were huge numbers of them in our house. It was dad who instilled a love of photography in me. Several years ago, I started collecting old photographs. In this time, I have managed to assemble a decent collection. People who have heard about my hobby very often give me unique photographs of old cities and streets. In my archives, I already have pictures of Baku, Saki, Lankaran and Samaxi. And most recently, I got a picture of antique Ganja which friends from Ganca gave me.

- What is your oldest photograph?

- My oldest photo - 'View of Baku Bay', dated 1861, was taken by Dmitriy Yermakov, a Russian photographer. All his life and work were associated with Tiflis. Yermakov lived for a few years in Persia, where he was even known as court photographer to the shah.

In my collection there are photographs by Michon and his colleagues of more recent times - Isay Rubenchik, Leo Schwartz, Bahadur Cafarov and Huseyn Huseynzada. Each of these works captures a moment in the life of my beloved city of Baku.

- How did Bahram Bagirzada turn into 'a guy in a cap'? How did this original and memorable image emerge?

- This image existed before me. I liked the characters of good old movies performed by my favourite actors Basir Safaroglu, Lutfali Abdullayev, Yasar Nuri and his father Mammadsadiq Nuriyev - simple and almost naive, with a good sense of Azerbaijani humour. These are the qualities I adopted from them. I only added an 'aerodrome' cap. Incidentally, I started performing in a cap at high school in 1987 when I performed for our school's KVN team. It was then that I was noticed and invited to the city team as a dancer... (laughs). Yes. At 19, as a second-year student in the directing department of the University of Arts, I was a background dancer. Then Yuriy Solomonovich Gusman noticed me. He suggested to the captain of our team that the "young and puny Gascon" should be put in the line-up. The captain of the famous team 'Odessa Gentlemen', Yan Levinzon, noted my sparkling performance and predicted a successful KVN future for me. And I really did well. Despite the fact that the 'Boys from Baku' team no longer exists, Aleksandr Maslyakov remembers me and invites me to the KVN Festival every year. I was even lucky enough to sit on the jury in the Premier League.

- Bahram 20 years ago and Bahram today. How much have you changed over the years?

- Previously, I was too emotional, energetic and a little stubborn. Now I have become more patient and sentimental.

- What about humour? Have you not forgotten how to joke?

- Humour is always with me. However, it has changed slightly over the years. Let's put it this way, at the moment I'm in the initial stage of Shirvindt-like humour. It is a humour of spontaneous reaction, intelligent jokes and aphorisms. By the way, I recently thought about something. This year I turned 38, and that is quite something... I used to think that I had achieved a lot in life but, as the saying goes, everything is relative. At my age, Mircafar Bagirov was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan Republic. Architect Josef Goslawski developed the project of the Baku City Duma at 38, and Freddie Mercury performed his 'Barcelona' at that age in a duet with Montserrat Caballe. Turning to history, I understand how little I have done in this life.

- But you and the guys from the 'Boys from Baku' team became champions of the century!

- That's right. But, compared with the achievements of others, you realize that you have not done anything. For example, at the age of 22, Mubariz Ibrahimov became a hero of Azerbaijan and gave up his life for his country... And who am I? I am just a KVN actor...

- But all your life lies ahead: many discoveries, successes and exploits...

- (Smiles) Yes, as the song says, 'Our Locomotive Flies Ahead'. I am happy with my life. Thank God, I am doing well: family, work and kids. I have two. Tahira will soon be 9 years old and Cavid is already 7. Last year, my 8-year-old daughter became Azerbaijani champion in checkers among 10-year-old girls. In August, the Ministry of Youth and Sports sent her to the World Russian Checkers Cup in St. Petersburg and I accompanied her. But after the championship, I realized that I was traumatizing the child. After each game, Tahira was nervous and worried. My wife and I decided to give her a little break from checkers. Now Tahira and her brother are involved in fine arts. My late father regretted all his life that he did not join a painting circle. He was very fond of arts. When I was little, mum and dad took me to a painting circle, which only did me good. I paint well and could even make money at it. Sometimes, I do sets for plays.

- What is Bahram Bagirzada's dream?

- I have a dream - to open a cafe called 'At Bahram's' with pictures of old Baku on the walls and with waiters wearing 'aerodrome'-caps - a cafe 1960s style and definitely with the music of that period - Magomayev, Behbudov, Mustafazada. I was born much later but feel a strange nostalgia for that time. I like what people wore then, how correctly they lived and how sincerely they felt about each other. People respected each other and were afraid of God. Now everything has changed... anger, violence, lies and indifference. For all these sins, we get earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. God is trying to reach out to us, but we do not understand the meaning of disasters. If you want to change your life, you have to change yourself first.

- Bahram, every year you become more and more like your father. What else, apart from his appearance, did you inherit from Arif muallim?

- In the past two years, after dad passed away, I have often repeated the phrase 'Allah rahmat elasin'! Only now, when I have myself become a father, have I begun to understand what my father felt and how he felt about me. With his departure, I lost a wall to lean on. Every time I face a problem, I think what he would do in that situation. We are similar in nature.

- And your son Cavid? What is he like? How do you see him in the future?

- (Laughs) He is a mix of Arif and Bahram. I would like him to link his life to science, especially as he, like Tahira, has a mathematical talent.

- What are you like in family life?

- I like order and discipline. But I am not a despot. I just like organization in everything. I try never to be late. And I have an excellent memory for numbers. I always congratulate friends on their birthdays. Perhaps I got this from my dad. He was a military man and loved discipline as well. Incidentally, in this sense I was lucky. My wife is like me (smiles). You know, I have the image of a passionate guy onstage. In real life, I am not like that. I do not understand why you need to start a relationship on the side if you have a family.

- You are very serious and thoughtful offstage...

- Only serious people can make jokes onstage, as it were, to the point. And most importantly, such humour is remembered for a long time. Flat jokes 'below the belt' are forgotten as soon as the audience leaves the hall.

- Do you maintain friendship with the other 'Boys from Baku'?

- Alas, we do not socialize as often as we did before. When we were younger, we had more free time. No worries, we were all unmarried and free. Together we celebrated betrothals, weddings and birthdays. And now, unfortunately, we often have to meet at wakes for friends and acquaintances who have departed this world too early (ponders). Perhaps my colleagues in the team meet up without me? After all, I'm not the Bahram I was before. I do not drink or smoke. You cannot talk to me on topics that are so interesting to other men of my age.

- One of the most lively holidays is approaching - the Day of Humour. What will a true KVN actor wish the readers of our magazine on this day?

- I wish everyone the joy of being happy, the happiness of understanding humour and the ability to laugh at themselves. After all, all this is the life of a happy man! I wish you not only to be able to laugh at others, but also at yourselves. Laugh at yourselves! Correct your mistakes with laughter and smiles, and then disaster will not affect you and your home! As Maksim Gorkiy said, "a good laugh is a sure sign of spiritual health".

In short, I wish you all spiritual health and happiness! After all, those who live in joy fulfil the will of the Creator.