Not Born Beautiful

Not Born Beautiful (Russian: Не родись красивой, romanized: Ne rodis krasivoi) is a telenovela filmed in Russia, directed by Alexander Nazarov and shown from 5 September 2005[1] to 7 July 2006 by the Russian network STS. It is a Russian spin of the Colombian "Yo Soy Betty La Fea" (I'm Betty, the Ugly One) telenovela, which has fostered more than a dozen versions in other countries. The telenovela reached success in Russia and boosted the ratings of the TV network STS.

Not Born Beautiful (Ne Rodis' Krasivoy) (Не Родись Красивой)
Genre	Telenovela
Written by	Ivan Uragov Elena Bykovskaya Mikhail Sokolov Svetlana Yashin Valentine Shevyakhova Natalia Marfina Svetlana Frichinskaya Viktoria Avdeenko Elena Isayev
Directed by	Alexander Nazarov
Starring	Nelli Uvarova Grigory Antipenko Pyotr Krasilov Olga Lomonosova Mikhail Zhigalov Irina Muravyova
Opening theme	If Love Lives In The Heart (Julia Savicheva)
Country of origin	Russia
Original language(s)	Russian
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	200
Production
Cinematography	Vladimir Bykhovsky Valentin Chornovol Igor Horev Olga Livinskaya
Running time	approximately 45:00
Distributor	Sony Pictures Television International
Release
Original network	STS
Original release	5 September 2005 – 7 July 2006

Nelli Uvarova plays the role of a charming ugly girl, Yekaterina (Katya) Pushkareva. This became a breakout role in Nelli’s career and brought her national love and fame. During the broadcast of the series she became a real star of Russian television. Nelli's American counterpart America Ferrara also became widely known for her portrayal of the namesake of Ugly Betty.

The show attracted viewers who were not in the traditional viewing audience of telenovelas. In fall of 2005, fully one-third of Russian TV viewers, and 58% of Ukraine viewers, were tuning in to watch the show.[1]^:209

According to TV's Betty Goes Global: From Telenovela to International Brand, Not Born Beautiful is likely the closest and most faithful of "Yo soy Betty, la fea"'s international adaptations.[1]

And according to its authors, in 2004-6, Russia was "at an apex" of "consumerism and glamour culture", and:

Ne rodis' krasivoy addresse[d] the central cultural conflict of post-Soviet culture: the negotiation between the Russian (Soviet) values and the new corporate bourgeois ones.[1]^:209

In all 200 episodes were filmed, many on a one-per-day schedule. The "industrial pace of shooting" matched the industrial setting, Media City's studios in the former Soviet-era Moscow ball-bearing plant, which operated from the 1930s to 1990.[1]^:207 This was 31 more episodes than in the Colombian original series.[2]

American TV executive James Kramer and other Americans were involved in bringing "Ugly Betty" to Russia.[3] [4]

Plot

Katya, a plain-looking girl, works as a secretary at the company Zimaletto, a manufacturer of uniforms and wedding dresses.[3] No man has paid attention to her yet, but she doesn't allow her looks to keep her from dreaming about love and happiness.[5]

Opening theme

The theme "If love lives in your heart" / "Esli v serdtse zhivet lyubov", with music and lyrics by Anastasiya Maksimova, performed by Yulia Savicheva became well known. The song, performed by Alsou, received a 2008 Russian MTV award as the first in a medley of nine songs required to be performed by singers or groups other than the original recording artist.[6]

Characters

Main

Actor	Role
Nelli Uvarova	Yekaterina Pushkareva
Grigory Antipenko	Andrey Pavlovich Zhdanov
Artoym Semakin	Nikolai Zorkin
Pyotr Krasilov	Roman Malinovsky
Olga Lomonosova	Kira Voropayeva
Mikhail Zhigalov	Valery Pushkarev
Irina Muravyova	Yelena Pushareva
Yulia Takshina	Vika
Ilya Lubimov	Alexander Voropaev
Maria Mashkova	Masha, secretary
Anna Dimova	Amura Buyo
Raisa Ryazanova	Olga Uyutova
Natalya Rizih	Sveta
Yulia Kuvarzina	Tanya
Irina Sirotinskaya	Alexandra Kriventsova
Viktor Dobronrarov	Fyodor
Vitaly Egorov	Milko Vukanovich
Sergey Bolotaev	Sergey Potapkin

Recurring

Actor	Role
Dmitri Zenichev	Yaroslav Vetrov
Karina Ivanova; Darya Luzina	Maryana Pereguda
Alexander Korjenkov	Zakhar
Andrei Kuzichev	Mikhail Borshyov
Olga Levitina	Vasilisa
Olga Ostroumova	Margarita Zhdanova
Natalya Riychkova	Yuliana Vinogradova
Georgi Taratorkin	Pavel Olegovich Zhdanov
Yulia Rutberg	Kristina Voropaeva
Mihail Shklovski	Victor Tsypin
Oleg Shklovski	Georgy Uryadov
Oleg Kuhta	Anatoly
Irina Shebeko	Valeriya
Mikhail Safronov	Alexander Alexeevich
Yevgeny Kosirev	Anatoly Ponchev
Victor Cherepanov	Ivan Vasilyevich
Pavel Misailov	Boris Filin
Sergey Epishev	Boris Rulin
Vladimir Yaglych	Leonid
Zakhar Ronzhin	Radik
Mikhail Khimichev	Nikita Minaev
Sergey Oleksyak	Shurik
Ola Keyru	Anton
Valery Zolotukhin	Igor Sergeyevich
Lyudmila Alyokhina	Larisa Petrovna
Victor Bunakov	Alexey
Victor Ryabov	Felix Korsakov, restaurant critic
Alexander Chislov	Valeriy Vladimirovich
Alexey Losihin	Dmitry Valerievich Sinitckiy
Oleg Maslennikov-Voytov	Ronald
Natalya Starikova	Nadezhda Tkachuk
Petar Zekavica	Hans Kramer
Yulia Vayshnur	Anna Aleksandrovna
Yevgeny Kalinin	Sergey, bus driver

Interesting Facts

• The spin-off comedy "UmaNetto" (literally translated as No Brains), was broadcast by STS in 2007

References

1. Janet McCabe and Kim Akass, ed. (2013). TV's Betty Goes Global: From Telenovela to International Brand. I.B. Tauris.
2. "Ugly is the New Beautiful: An International Betty-base: "Не Родись Красивой" ["Ne Rodis Krasivoy"] — Russia (2005)".
3. Nina Porzucki (9 November 2014). "The American who turned Ugly Betty into a Russian". BBC.com's Magazine.
4. Nina Porzucki (producer) (6 November 2014). "How to make an American sitcom work in Russia". Public Radio International's The World.
5. "Ne rodis krasivoy (2005–2006): Plot Summary". Retrieved October 24, 2016. (with plot summary credited to RussArt.com)
6. "MTV Russia Music Awards 2008". IMDB.com.

External links

• Ne rodis krasivoy, at IMDb
• "If love lives in your heart", at YouTube, performed by Yulia Savicheva with a plain-looking second singer and snorkel parka-sporting others