Shukur Burhonov

Renowned theater and film actor Shukur Burhonov was born on September 15, 1910, in Tashkent into a gardener's family. Shukur Burhonov finished elementary school and entered the Tashkent Agricultural Technical College. In addition, during his studies, he actively participated in gymnastics circles and art clubs.

Later, he worked in an amateur troupe organized among young people called "Kök Köylak" (Blue Shirt). In 1928, he went to Samarkand and started working as an actor at the Uzbek State Theater. There, he studied for 6 months under the theater's chief director, Alexeyev, alongside Shohidaxonim and Karim Zakiriy. During this period, he became generally familiar with the key characteristics of the actor's craft (mastery). Participating in the theater olympiad held in Moscow in 1930 was very beneficial for Shukur Burhonov. It gave him the opportunity to get acquainted with good examples of the theater of that period, increased his love for the stage, and at the same time, helped him realize more deeply that acting is a difficult job requiring great talent.

At this olympiad, Shukur Burhonov watched Meyerhold's productions of "The Forest," "The Mandate," and others, as well as plays titled "Anzor" and "Lamara" at the "Georgia" theater. These plays, along with increasing Shukur Burhonov's love for the theater, clearly showed that to become a true artist, one must study, learn, work hard, and search tirelessly. The initial training Shukur Burhonov received in the theater field consisted of those six months of lessons in Samarkand and the olympiad in Moscow. According to provided information, Shukur Burhonov's first role was the character of the Peasant in "Two Communists" in 1929. After that, he appeared in the role of Kova in "Kovayn Ohangar," and as Karavay and Matros in "Rebellion" ("Myatej"). Among these, the most successful was the role of the Sailor. Shukur Burhonov played this character with love and was able to fully highlight his fighting spirit.

In 1932, a new period of Shukur Burhonov's creativity began with Umarjon Ismoilov's work "Rustam." Even though the character of Rustam was fictional and far from real life, Shukur Burhonov played him with considerable success. Later, plays seen on stage such as "Yondiramiz," "O't kelini," "Tarix tilga kirdi," "Qo'zibuloq," "Intrigue and Love," and "Turandot" played an important role in the maturation of Shukur Burhonov's creative potential. During the Second World War and the post-war years, Shukur Burhonov paid special attention to creating images of military commanders. Characters such as Frunze in Izzat Sultan's play "Flight of the Eagle" and Sabir Rakhimov in Kamil Yashin's work "General Rakhimov" are among these. Along with creating positive characters, he performed roles of negative characters with great skill.

In the 50s and 60s of the last century, several unique works of world and Uzbek classical drama were staged with great success at the Uzbek State Academic Drama Theater named after Hamza. Shukur Burhonov was cast in the leading roles for most of them. His performances of Hamlet and Brutus in W. Shakespeare's tragedies "Hamlet" and "Julius Caesar," and the character of Mirzo Ulugbek in Maqsud Shayxzoda's tragedy "Mirzo Ulugbek," were major events not only in the artist's career but also in the history of Uzbek theater.

When working on the character of Mirzo Ulugbek, Shukur Burhonov paid special attention to truthfully reflecting the three intertwined aspects of the historical Ulugbek: man, scientist, and statesman, and he achieved great success in this regard. The image of Ulugbek is one of the many wonderful roles the actor played on the Uzbek stage and stands on the level of the Hamlet character created by him. In 1964, the veteran Hamza Theater went on tour to Moscow and presented the plays "Mirzo Ulugbek," "Faith," and "Bloody Mirage" at the M. Gorky Theater. These stage works were well-received by the audience and evaluated positively by well-known theater critics and art scholars. In the discussions of these plays, the character of Mirzo Ulugbek played by Shukur Burhonov received high praise. The heroic romanticism characteristic of Shukur Burhonov, a performer of tragic roles who created the image of Ulugbek, is characterized by poetic interpretations, deep psychological content, and bright expression of profound internal processes remaining in the hero's heart, with tones of calmness and militancy intensifying in his passionate and uplifting performance. Through the character of Ulugbek, the tragedy of a man who believed that the world could be changed with goodness and thinking is shown. Shukur Burhonov embodies Ulugbek's suffering in search of truth with resilient simplicity and sharp intellect. In particular, Ulugbek deeply realizes that all his activities are in vain in the scene with his mother, Gavharshodbegim. The mother, embodying blind force, had open contempt for Ulugbek's activities. Ulugbek remembers with regret and remorse that his own mother was his merciless enemy. When his son Abdulatif raises a weapon against him, he shows resilience and willpower. Ulugbek pours his rage and hatred on the power-hungry patricide; the fighting spirit of ancestors, the merciless and pitiless heart of his grandfather Timur, awakens in his soft and compassionate heart.

On April 24, 1960, Shukur Burhonov succeeded in creating the character of Oedipus in Sophocles' work "Oedipus Rex." One of the most praiseworthy aspects of the play is the flawless and correct resolution of the main character, King Oedipus. The miraculous performing art of Shukur Burhonov, a great artist of our people, determined the play's success and its fate. If a description is needed, this play can be fully called a "Shukur Burhonov play." Furthermore, with this character, Shukur Burhonov once again demonstrated in practice that he is a unique artist and an owner of diamond talent, and he took his place among the major figures of world theater. In creating such a complex and monumental tragic character as King Oedipus, the actor had to conduct deep creative research, carefully analyze the play's idea and philosophy, truthfully express the character's psychology, and while being able to convey the beauty of poetry in Oedipus' monologues and dialogues with high aesthetic sense, he had to work hard to open the meaning of every word and find the right tone and intonation for every syllable...

From the very first scene of the play, the actor portrays his character as a merciful and majestic king, a popular and fair person, an enterprising ruler, which we also learn from the words he expressed with strong emotional experiences:

Unhappy innocents, we see: You are in infinite pain, in suffering, But none of us burn like me, None would bear his pain, My heart burns in fire for my city, My heart burns in fire for you. Just as it is impossible to explain the quality of a pearl with words, it is extremely difficult to describe the perfection of the character of Oedipus created by Shukur Burhonov.

He was hardworking, responsible, and extremely demanding of himself, his colleagues, and his students. Shukur Burhonov's work is philosophically rich and multifaceted. He showed equal skill in performing romantic, lyrical, and satirical roles. In this context, it is enough to remember the role of the mayor in N.V. Gogol's comedy "The Government Inspector." The actor was a great master at performing psychological and sharp dramatic roles. Characters like Voynitsky in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" and Khlebnikov in Stein's play "Personal Case" are among such roles. The character of Sulaymon Ota in Shukur Burhonov's work stands out with its national character. An honest father, who once took a trust from No'mon Nazarov going to war, searches for him along all the paths the front passed. He searches for his tracks. He cannot do otherwise, because a "Day of Judgment debt" is on his shoulders. The secret of the play's title leading to this lies there.

The character of Sulaymon Ota in Shukur Burhonov's performance belongs to the series of milestone roles in the development of the art of acting. The character of Sulaymon Ota can be placed among the movements that have become truly national creations, embodying the fundamental qualities of patriotism, internationalism, and humanism. The character of Sulaymon Ota created by Shukur Burhonov appears as a symbol not only of honesty but also of nobility and goodness. His comforting of a woman who has suffered misfortune and his expression of sympathy for a young man suffering from the trauma of family discord shows the general "self" of the character. Shukur Burhonov also contributed greatly to the development of our film art. He won the immense love of film art fans by creating colorful, unforgettable, sharp-characterized, mature, and imposing roles in a number of films shot at "Uzbekfilm," Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, as well as "Mosfilm" film studios, and he approached immortality in this field of art as well.

He first performed the role of Rustam in the feature film "Asal" in 1940. Also, the role of Qora Botir in the feature film "Tahir and Zukhra," which gained wide fame on the world screen and has not lost its value for half a century, brought great fame to the actor. It introduced him to the broad public as a talented artist. Then, in 1946, the actor created roles such as Rustam in the film "Sleepless Way," G'ofur in "Boy ila xizmatchi" in 1950, Karimov in "Road to Happiness" in 1957, Qalinshoh in "Ilya Muromets," and Qalandarov in "Sinchalak" in 1972. In 1964, film director Latif Fayziyev shot the film "Ulugbek's Star." The character of Mirzo Ulugbek created by Shukur Burhonov in the film became the actor's greatest achievement in cinema. Later, in 1965, he played several major and complex roles such as Yalangtosh in Kamil Yormatov's film "Storm Over Asia," Professor Mahmudov in "By the Conscience's Command" in 1966, Aznauz in "Riders of the Revolution," and a sculptor in "Children of the Fatherland" in 1968. Shukur Burhonov's creative activity was worthily rewarded. Shukur Burhonov was given the honorary title of "People's Artist of Uzbekistan" (1940). Also, he was awarded the State Prize of Uzbekistan named after Hamza (1965). Because of his incomparable talent and immortal creative heritage, for his incomparable contribution to the development of Uzbek national culture, and for dedicating his whole life to the progress of the nation and the elevation of our people's spirituality, Shukur Burhonov was awarded the order of "For Great Services" in 2001.

Famous film and theater actor, a great figure of Uzbek art, Shukur Burhonov passed away on August 14, 1987, in Tashkent.