Dragan Bjelogrlić has played in more than forty films, in some twenty TV serials and dramas and eleven theatrical productions. In the 1990s, he founded his own production house called Cobra Film, which has so far shot five feature length movies and a TV series. This interview took place at Baranda, where Bjelogrlić is finishing the shooting of film and serial the working title of which is Montevideo Bog te video (Montevideo, God Bless You), in which he is for the first time trying his hand at directing.
 Wherefore Dragan Bjelogrlić on film?
– Quite by accident. Sometime in 1978 – I was fourteen then and an eighth grader – there was an audition at the Dadov theater for the Boško Buha film cast. One of our mates had came upon us as we played football at the local stadium and invited us all together to come and audition. I, too, went, out of pure curiosity. I remember assistant film director Branko Rusti was there. He saw me and asked me: "Why do you want to become an actor?" I told him: "Because I love film." To this he replied: "I rather think you want the girls to like you." I really did like watching movies but it had never occurred to me to become an actor. Sport was what I was interested in. Apart from football, I first played handball, then switched to swimming. I also achieved some good results: I placed third in a 1975 state competition in the freestyle category. I was among the top ten in a state math competition in 1977. However, after I got the part in the film, my life took quite a different direction. An unknown door opened to me and I audaciously stepped into the world of film where I’ve been for the full past thirty-two years. Two years ago, B-92 TV channel showed a cycle of my films starting from the early role of Sirogojno to the recent role of Ekser – which presented a good opportunity to remind me of some of the films I appeared in.
This is not at all an insignificant number of roles?
– After Boško Buha and before I enrolled into the Faculty of Drama Arts, I also played in Halo Taxi and Veliki transport (Heroes). Then, after I enrolled, followed: Odlazak ratnika, povratak Maršala (TV series), Bal na vodi (Hey, Babu Riba). And, finally, came the role of Boba in the Bolji život TV serial. The rest, you know.
Wherein lies the root of your success?
– This probably has to do with what I carry within, that something that people find interesting. Each one of us carries some sort of specific feature, something that makes them different from others. An actor must be able to convey to others that which he carries within, to transfer through all that magic of acting... This is more pronounced among younger people, as they play with more soul, with more openness and sincerity. Fortunately, I have played such characters as I had been able to identify with, to ‘enter’ into the character’s personality.
What was it like - playing a bad guy?
- I did not play a bad guy very often, but I did in two films. Although I have not had some very attractive invitations for such roles, I nevertheless, wanted to try may hand at playing such roles. In any case, it was a very interesting experience.
Which roles would you single out as being closest to your heart?
- There are several roles that I find significant – not because they were my best achievements but simply because they carry a bit more meaning for me than the others. For instance, my role in Crni Bombarder (The Black Bomber) – because that was a defining moment in my career. Then, playing the character of Kure in the movie Rane (The Wounds). Also, the role of Ekser in The Storks TV series...
Who among your colleagues exerted the greatest influence on you?
– There are quite a few of them; this depended on the time period... At one point, it was Bata Živojinović, who bore a high influence not only on me but on many generations that had the privilege to work with him. In the theater, that would be Laza Ristovski. I would not like to leave out anyone, but there is certainly also Gaga (Dragan) Nikolić, with whom – although I have not worked as much with him – I have associated for over twenty years...
 There were awards as well?
– Except for the Arena, because I was too young (at the time, the Pula film festival was still a Yugoslav festival), as an actor I received all that was being awarded – two Ćele Kula Grand Prix for best actor at the Niš festival, two Golden Mimosa for best played role at the film festival in Herceg Novi, the Sloboda statuette for best acting achievement at the Sopot film festival. At the festival in Herceg Novi, I also won the award for extraordinary contribution to reaffirming the festival. Then there are also more than fifteen major awards from producers for the films at festivals at home and more than twenty international recognitions and Grand Prix. I also won the best actor award at the 26th Borini Pozorišni Dani theater festival for the role of Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Why can’t we see you acting more often in the theater?
– I, myself, don’t know why. I play when I get a part and when I have time. Although, I’m here all the time as One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest has been playing at the Belgrade Drama Theater for years. We’ve played it more than one hundred times.
Be that as it may, over the recent years your name as producer was being mentioned increasingly frequently?
– I have been doing production for nearly fifteen years now. When in the 1990s they asked me: "Why have you begun working as producer", I replied: "Out of necessity." Please remember the situation in the Serbian film industry in the mid-1990s. All big film-producing houses ground to a virtual standstill; making films all but ceased. There was a large void and no work for an entire industry. The situation was not much better in the theater. After the first theatrical production done by our house in 1995, we have decided to make a film by ourselves. Lepa sela, lepo gore (Pretty Village, Pretty Flame) is in many ways a very important film, not only for me but speaking generally. First, this was one of the first films to be made here by a privately-owned production house. Then, the subject matter of the film – war in Bosnia – at the time when the war was still ongoing. And finally, this movie despite much criticism and resistance from many quarters met with great success, not only in Serbia but also in other countries of former Yugoslavia. Today, after all that we’ve been through, I see that period and my decision to make that film in a different light; I see it as a decision which was definitely more the outcome of my desire to produce films in a more accomplished manner and not merely to act. I wished to try my hand at producing; see where I stand in this context. Those were difficult years and it was hard, first of all to secure the funds for making the movie. It came to the very edge of crossing the line of one’s dignity. Some of my colleagues have even reproached me for becoming a ‘businessman-actor’. No, I had no wish to be in business. Had I so desired, I surely would have opted for a much more lucrative area than filmmaking. But, I could not just sit there and wait and have someone else deal with the problems I was vitally interested in or expect them to be solved on their own.
You are among the first Serbian actors appearing in films shot in former Yugoslav republics?
– Yes, in 2002, I played in a Bosnian-made film titled Mliječni put (Milky Way). The following year, I played in the film Kajmak i Marmelada (Cheese and Marmalade), a debut in film directing of Sarajevo’s 'surrealist' Branko Djurić - Djura. After that, I again appeared in Bosnian-made series titled Crna Hronika, broadcast in the former Yugoslav republics as well as in a play called Balkanski Sindrom (The Balkan Syndrome)...
In the meantime, you have appeared in a very successful series called Vratiće se rode (The Storks Will Return)?
– In this series that was of our own production, I played one of the main characters – a man named Ekser from Baranda. The serial met with remarkable success – in Serbia and beyond. In Croatia, it was the series that recorded the highest ratings that year...
Ultimately, Dragan Bjelogrlić tried his hand at directing films. Would you care to comment on this?
– That, too, I could not well escape. It was a challenge I could not refuse. Actually, the hardest thing was making the decision to do it. Now, everything is easier. This is about a series and film titled Montevideo, Bog Te Video that tell about the Yugoslav national football team going to the world cup final tournament in Montevideo in 1930 and placing third. This is a story about our team members in which only players from Serbia – from Belgrade, played. But it is also a story about the former way of life in and spirit of Belgrade and Serbia. In a detailed production design to revive the 1930 appearance of Belgrade’s Čubura city quarter, we tried to portray sections of the capital’s social life of that time that unfolded for the most part in coffeehouses and barber shops. We should be completing the first part called Kad je fudbal bio mlad (When Football Was Young), and are due to continue shooting the second part in the fall.
Does this imply you have so far succeeded in seeing through everything that you had planned? Have you any other plans?
– Certainly. First, I plan to obtain a pilot’s license. I have begun with flying lessons and believe I would soon be able to fly by myself. | 
