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Biography
Ararat Keshchyan is an actor, TV and radio host. In his work, he prefers a comedic role — it is in this way that his fans perceive him now. He did not manage to avoid the stellar illness either. According to the artist, this is a "terrible thing"
Childhood and youth
The future actor was born in the autumn of 1978 in the resort town of Gagra in Abkhazia. At an early age, Ararat moved with his family to Adler, where he later graduated from high school. According to some reports, they migrated to Russia in the early 90s due to the outbreak of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.
Keshchyan's parents are Armenians by nationality and have Russian citizenship. Mother Almast Avakovna worked as a teacher all her life. Father Gevorg Ashotovich also had nothing to do with creativity. The boy grew up with his older brother Ashot, who was a role model for him and had a great influence on Ararat. Thanks to Ashot Keshchyan Jr., he entered the KVN stage.
My brother studied economics, and Ararat received an education in the hotel business. Despite serious professions, both loved to perform in KVN. Parents supported their sons, although acting on stage was not related to future specialties.
KVN
In 1999, at the initiative of Ashot, the brothers got into the team "Grandchildren of Lumumba", which in the next 3 years won many awards, became the champion of Sochi and reached the semifinals of the Northern KVN League. The team was part of the RUDN branch. After a series of performances in the "Grandchildren of Lumumba", talented guys were noticed and invited to Moscow to participate in the "RUDN National Team". Their first Major League game was in 2003.
The guys quickly got used to the new team and were able to prove themselves, becoming the best players. Soon the national team was invited to the festival in Jurmala, where the debut of Ararat took place. The parody "Talking Kivin" was remembered by both the audience and the jury members.
After this performance, Keshchyan felt what fame was, but it was only the beginning of his television career. A year later, the national team came to the festival again and this time took 2nd place: the team from Pyatigorsk beat the guys. Ararat performed a parody "Talking Parrot" on the legendary humorist Gennady Khazanov.
In total, Ararat demonstrated three parodies of Khazanov, and in 2005 - in the presence of Gennady Viktorovich himself. In 2006, the "RUDN National Team" reached a peak point in KVN - became the champion of the Highest League. The jokes and parodies of the caveman were loved by the audience, not a single performance of the RUDN in Jurmala was complete without a number from Keshchyan. And his funny statements "walked" on the Internet and were passed from mouth to mouth.
According to Ararat, being a caveman is only at first glance simple and easy. In fact, you need to get an education, while working hard to get out and qualitatively play a miniature that will find a lively response from the viewer.
Television
Living in the capital of Russia, having many opportunities, the Keshchyan brothers often participated in entertainment projects. The debut on television took place in 2007 on the air of "Blah blah show". At the same time, fans remembered the release of the program "King of the Ring", the essence of which can be described as "boxing with the stars". Ararat took part in a duel with the actor of "Yeralash" Nikolai Lukinsky. A more experienced opponent fought against Keshchyan, and he lost.
A year later, the Russians had a new opportunity to try themselves as TV presenters of the program "Out of the Game". They also participated in the program "Fight Club", and all this in parallel with performances in KVN.
Ararat Keshchyan and Maria Kozhevnikova in the TV series "Univer"Ararat Keshchyan and Maria Kozhevnikova in the TV series "Univer"
Famous for playing KVN and playing the role of a graduate student at Uni, Ararat began to visit Comedy Woman. After the first release of the program, viewers of the TNT channel began to discuss that the host of the show Natalia Eprikyan is Keshchyan's sister. Allegedly, they raised the topic of kinship more than once in their dialogues, and they communicated with each other too warmly. Someone even noticed an external similarity between them.
Meanwhile, Yeprikyan and Keshchyan became friends back in the days of KVN, when Natalia played for the Megapolis team in the role of the famous Natalia Andreevna. They have different surnames and different places of birth. Yeprikyan even had to deny in the press the relationship with Keshchyan.
In 2014, Ararat became a TV presenter of "Brutal Work" on the Zvezda TV channel. After 2 years, he began to host the program "Not a fact!" together with his former KVN colleague Andrei Burkovsky. The program was dedicated to bright events, interesting and mysterious places, the fate of people. One of the places the project talked about was the mysterious Amber Room.
At the end of 2016, Ararat became the hero of the program "Explorer" on the channel "Friday!". According to the script, the stars of show business in the company of the witty presenter Andrei Bednyakov conducted viewers to their native places. Keshchyan acted as a guide around the city of Sochi. The artist considers the Russian resort his homeland along with Abkhazia.
Ararat's creative career is closely connected with TNT. The actor not only starred in TV channel projects, but also participated in entertainment programs such as "Improvisation", "Where is the logic?". Moreover, in the second show, Keshchyan appeared with his wife Ekaterina.
The artist also performed on the stage of the Comedy Club, where his partners were other former members of the Club of Funny and Resourceful Stanislav Yarushin, Timur Batrutdinov, Demis Karibidis.
Films
Fate smiled on Keshchyan as a film actor in 2009. He was invited to the casting of the popular student TV series "Univer", and he agreed. Participation in the filming of the project was a turning point in the artist's creative biography. Here he starred with Maria Kozhevnikova, Vitaly Gogunsky, Andrey Gaidulyan, Stas Yarushin, Valentina Rubtsova and others.
Ararat got the role of a colorful and loving student Michael (Artur Tigranovich Mikaelyan), who came from Adler to Moscow to study as a historian. Tall and handsome, athletic brunette (height 182 cm, weight about 90 kg) with a sense of humor quickly won the attention of the public.
The actor admitted: it was hard to act in the "Uni", there was no free time left, he was released late at night, when it was time to go to bed. But thanks to the series, Keshchyan woke up famous all over the country. In 2011, he appeared in the sequel to the sitcom "Univer. A new dorm." The heroes have new neighbors Nastasya Samburskaya, Anna Kuzina and Anna Khilkevich. The project turned out to be no less successful, its last season was released 7 years later. The Southerner also starred in the spin-off of the serial comedy "SashaTanya".
Ararat Keshchyan and Andrey Gaidulyan
Prior to the filming of the Univer series, Ararat, along with his brother Ashot, hosted an entertainment show on the Humor-FM radio station, timed to coincide with the 2008 Olympics, called the Olympic Reserve. In addition to "Uni", there were other film roles. Films with his participation — comedies "Exchange Wedding", "Happy together", "That's another Carloson", "Moms".
In 2012, Ararat Keshchyan, along with Nikolai Naumov, the star of "Real Boys", starred in the film "Nannies", directed by his brother Ashot. Lyudmila Artemyeva, Aglaya Shilovskaya, Olesya Zheleznyak, Mikhail Galustyan were involved in the comedy. In the story, Keshchyan and Naumov play the roles of hapless businessmen who are taken to the resort to sign an important contract. The film received mixed reviews from critics, mostly negative.
In 2014, Ararat starred in a new version of the legendary "Caucasian Captive" directed by Maxim Voronkov, where he played Jabrail, Nina's uncle. The remake failed at the box office.
A striking project in Keshchyan's filmography was the comedy "Classmates", in which the artist played the role of bank employee Misha, the beloved of the heroine Valentina Mazunina. In 2017, the continuation of the popular film "Classmates: a new Twist" was shown, in which Ararat shone in the roles of two twins separated in childhood, Misha and Gosha.
Then the actor appeared in an episode of Fyodor Stukov's project, which was called "The Baker and the Beauty". In the film, where the main roles were played by Anna Chipovskaya, Nikita Volkov and Daniil Vakhrushev, it was about the love of a screen star and a guy from the province.
At the same time, another important event in the artist's creative life took place. Ararat entered the Higher Courses of screenwriters and Directors, where he began to receive additional education and learn the basics of creating a movie from the back of the camera. For two years, Keshchyan attended classes of masters of Russian cinema. Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Menshov, Vladimir Khotinenko, Sergey Solovyov, Andrey Zvyagintsev and others taught at the educational institution.
Personal life
While pursuing a career, for a long time Keshchyan did not think about his personal life. The first real feeling overtook him on the eve of his 30th birthday. The celebrity's wife was a girl named Irina, the wedding was played in Adler in 2007. The marriage lasted 3 years. The breakup of the relationship became known in 2010. In the program "COSMOPOLITAN. Video version" Ararat announced that the divorce took place, but his heart is not free.
Ararat Keshchyan and his wife Ekaterina Shepeta
In January 2013, the actor signed with his second wife Ekaterina Shepeta. She has a degree in public relations. Her plans included the organization of her own business, which Katerina did after the marriage.
The wedding did not take place alone. Since Ekaterina's parents live in Kostanay, and Ararat's in Adler, the celebration had to be celebrated in 2 cities. Along the way, the newlyweds visited Thailand, where they went with friends. And after returning to Moscow, we held an event with colleagues.
In September 2014, a joyful event happened in the life of the lovers — they became parents for the first time. The father affectionately calls daughter Eva a "bandit". Being pregnant, Ekaterina Keshchyan opened a wedding agency, and then an information portal for women "Utkin House". Today, the businesswoman also has her own beauty salon.
In 2017, the couple had a second daughter, Diana. Children regularly become heroes of their father's Instagram account. Moreover, photos of not only daughters, but also nephews appear in the celebrity's personal profile. The actor has a close relationship with his brother: Ararat and Ashot Keshchyan are friends with their families.
Ararat Keshchyan with his wife and children
In 2010, Ararat's car was involved in a major accident, after which rumors about the death of the artist appeared on the Web. Fortunately, everything went well. As a result of the collision of two foreign cars, both cars were seriously damaged. The actor was not injured in the accident: what saved him from serious consequences was that he was driving a right-hand drive foreign car.
Unfortunately, Ararat Keshchyan's auto-connections did not end there, and he again became a participant in road accidents. At the end of 2020, journalists were attracted by the news that the actor laughed in court after a fine of 5 thousand rubles was issued for driving into the oncoming lane.
Ararat Keshchyan now
Keshchyan continues close cooperation with the TNT channel. In 2021, he played one of the central roles in the comedy television series "Vacation". According to the idea of director Alexander Boikov, the film should plunge the audience into the carefree resort atmosphere of Gelendzhik, where the shooting took place.
The hero of Ararat Taimuraz is a rich and influential man in the city, ready to fight with the cunning Boris (Demis Karibidis) for the heart of the beautiful Madina (Catherine Assi). Even before the premiere, the tape attracted the attention of the public by the fact that, in addition to famous comedians, the star of "TikTok" Valya Carnival made her debut in it.
Another project, which premiered in December— is "Univer. 10 years later", where Ararat appeared in the image of Artur Mikaelyan, familiar to fans. But the picture showed the old heroes in a new role. Instead of fervent students, matured family people appeared on the screen.
Ararat Keshchyan and Stanislav Yarushin in the announcement of the series "Univer. 10 years later"