Actor Dadakhon Abidov, in an interview on the “Omon-Omon” program, openly spoke about how he got the leading role in the feature film “Road to Tokyo” about Olympic boxing champion Bakhodir Jalolov.
According to him, he dreamed of becoming a boxer since childhood, but his family did not allow it. Later, when he heard about the filming of a movie about Jalolov, his hope was revived.
“I went to the casting. I was liked by the оператор, the director, and the whole crew. They even told me, ‘Most likely, you will play this role.’ I believed it and started training. But later it turned out that Ulugbek Kadyrov would play the role. I respect him, but I was still a bit upset — because I thought this role should have been mine,” the actor says.
According to Abidov, when it was said that about 40% of the film had already been shot, he confidently told those around him: “I don’t know why I said it, but you’ll see — I will still play this role.”
After some time, the director contacted him and shared unexpected news.
“One day my phone rang. Akrom called and said, ‘You will play this role.’ Honestly, it was a very unexpected and joyful news for me,” he recalls.
The director also noted that initially Bakhodir wanted Ulugbek Kadyrov to play the role, but he himself supported Dadakhon Abidov's candidacy. “There were some disagreements over parts of the script, but after seeing the final result, Jalolov was satisfied,” said the director.
Dadakhon Abidov also emphasized that before accepting the role, he called his colleague out of respect.
“I called Ulugbek and asked, ‘They are trusting me with this role, are you okay with it?’ He sincerely replied, ‘Why would you say that? I fully agree. I’m happy when young guys like you grow and get big roles,’” the actor concluded.
