Nurtas Adambay

• Name — Nurtas Adambay • Native Name — Нұртас Адамбай • Birth Name — Nurtas Abayevich Adambayev • Born — 14 December 1981 • Birthplace — Dzhambul, Dzhambul Region, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union • Years Active — 2003–2019 2021–present • Notable Works — Bride Sabina Village Escape. Love Affair Akim • Education — Kazakh Ablai Khan University

Nurtas Adambay was born Nurtas Abayevich Adambayev on 14 December 1981 in Dzhambul. Adambayev used to earn money breakdancing as a child. During these years, he would also visit his grandmother in the village Saudakent, Jambyl Region. As a result of the 1986 Jeltoqsan protests and its aftermath, Adambayev's father Abay Adambayev resigned from law enforcement. Adambay's grandfather Baltabay Adambayev was a notable Kazakh historian and poet. Adambay studied in the Kazakh Ablai Khan University and finished its political science degree with honors. During his studies, he became a member of the "Astana.kz" KVN team. The first notable work by Adambay was Nasha Kazasha (2008–2013), which was a Kazakh adaptation of Nasha Russia. There, he played various comedic roles and established himself as an actor. After the success of Nasha Kazasha, Adambay created the Nurtas Production studio, which worked on commercials, comedy shows, TV series, and feature films. The initial successful projects of the studio included Village Escape (2011–2013) and its sequels, as well as KZlandia. Bride Sabina (2014) was an exceptionally experimental project of Adambay, as he was the director, screenwriter, producer of the film, as well as the travesti actor of its eponymous main character, Bride Sabina. The International Film Festival for Documentary Short and Comedy Films, the Genre Celebration Film Festival, and the L’Officiel Awards, as well as the Kazakhstan Critics' Choice Awards rewarded Bride Sabina with its highest awards. Bride Sabina later went on to have sequels of its own, including Bride Sabina 2 (2016) and Bride Sabina 3 (2020). Another notable travesti role of Adambay was his role as the main character of Matchmakers (2018). After the Bride Sabina trilogy ended, Adambay refused to play any more female characters. Outside of comedic films, Adambay's works also included dramas, most notably Taraz (2016) and Elevator (2018). In the 2020s, Adambay created the Nuradam YouTube podcast, where he would discuss the Quran with other Muslim personalities. In August 2026, it was revealed that Adambay and his family have been living in the United States. Described by him as initially a temporary stay, he claims to now live there permanently. His prior opposition to LGBTQ representation did not stop his from living in Los Angeles, California, where he "saw no LGBTQ propaganda". He has since been producing AI-generated films.

In 2022, Adambay supported the ban of the Lightyear (2022) premiere in Kazakhstan because of a present one-second homosexual kiss. The movie's release in the country was later banned, as announced by the Minister of Culture and Sports Dauren Abaev. According to Adambay himself, the petition for the ban gained over 30 thousand votes. He added that seeing homosexual partners kiss would have "broken the psyche" of underage viewers. Adambay has also voiced his opposition to association football. He claimed that it harms both the player and the viewer, as the shorts worn by the players do not follow proper Islamic clothing laws. He has also shown himself to be against any combat sport. In 2023, he opposed the touring of Russian musician Andrey Makarevich in Kazakhstan because of his support of Israel in the Gaza war. In September of the same year, he also harshly critisied politician Rinat Zaitov for claiming that "80% of all fraud" is done by "those who perform salah", demanding either the latter's proof of the claim or resignation from the Mäjilis.

On 1 August 2024, Adambay announced that the Astana Directorate of Religious Affairs has filed a lawsuit against him because he "quoted translations of the Holy Quran" on his social media. He was accused of violating the law on the Distribution of Religious literature and other materials of Religious content (Article 490 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and it was noted that he could be fined $393 because of this. The exact reasoning for the lawsuit was Adambay's sharing of religious texts without being a certified representative of any religious organization, which was indeed a punishable offence. However the lawsuit was later moved indefinitely. Dimaş Äljanov, among others, however, did not believe Adambay would face any major repercussions. Adambay announced in a September 2026 interview that he simply paid the fine.

Adambay first got married in 2011, to Galiya, a graphic designer from Almaty. In December 2012, their first child and son Alisher was born. However, the family was said to have had marital problems and after living separately for some time, they got divorced. In 2015, Adambay and Galiya remarried. In 2021, Adambay went through depression because of family issues, but seemed to have recovered by becoming a lot more religious and thus reunited with his family. In 2022, a daughter of his was born.

Political scientist Dimaş Äljanov described Adambay as a person "loyal to the regime". Following the release of Akim (2019), where Adambay played a rich young man becoming an akim, there were rumors that this could be a beginning to Adambay's potential political career, as parallels to Volodymyr Zelenskyy were made. However Adambay stated that this was not an oppositionist movie, but rather a romantical comedy, also expressing "no interest" in following Zelenskyy's path. After personal issues faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Adambay's political views and personal life shifted closer to conservative Islam. In 2023, when justifying his push to ban Lightyear (2022) in Kazakhstan, Adambay pushed a conspiracy theory that "someone" was trying to influence the Kazakh society to reduce the fertility rates and "traditional values" of the country. He did not specify on who this "someone" is, only making a reference to "the West". After becoming a practicing Muslim, Adambay stated that Kazakhstan would be better off with sharia law, stating that it'd have solved all corruption and domestic abuse issues, additionally criticising journalist Erjan Esimhanov for expressing his atheism. Adambay also commented on his refusal to address any political events in the country, including the 2022 Bloody January, by stating that it is not something that in his area of work. In July 2024, Adambay formally apologized on Instagram to presidents Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, mäjilisman Rinat Zaitov, and musician Andrey Makarevich, for his "out of stupidity" previous criticism of them. Also formally apologizing to "everyone, with whom he may have had conflicted", Adambay praised the heads of state for "their service for the good of [their countries]", additionally praising Vladimir Putin for "preserving family values, opposing the promotion of obscenity". Since moving to the United States, Adambay has praised the country, saying "God Bless America", mentioning that he feels freer there as a Muslim than, "for example, in the UAE". Despite his continuous support for censorship and the Kazakh anti-LGBTQ law, he described transgender people as "just being on their own journey", which is "none of [his] business".

• Year — Title — Original title — Role — Type — Notes — Ref(s) • 2008–2012 — Nasha Kazasha — Наша Казаша — several roles — comedic TV series • 2009 — The Interesting Radio — Қызық радиосы — comedic TV series • Qairat is the champion and a virgin number one — Кайрат — чемпион, или Девственник номер один — Serik — comedic film • Open the door, I am Happiness! — Откройте дверь — я счастье! — Baqyt — comedic series • 2010 — Cocktail for a star — Коктейль для звезды — Clipmaker — comedy • Snatch — Рывок — Commentator — film • 2011 — Village Escape — Побег из аула — Erbol Äpşuberov (Apshuberov) — comedic series • 2012 — Village Escape 2 — Побег из аула-2 — Erbol Äpşuberov (Apshuberov) — comedic series • Kzlandia. Reboot — KZландия. Перезагрузка — several roles — comedic TV series • 2013 — Village Escape 3 — Побег из аула-3 — Erbol Äpşuberov (Apshuberov) — comedic series • 2014 — Teachers — Преподы — Marat — comedic series • Bride Sabina — Келинка Сабина — Bride Sabina — comedic film — also director • 2015 — Bride Sabina 2 — Келинка Сабина-2 — Bride Sabina — comedic film — also director • A Wedding for three — Свадьба на троих — Timur — comedic film • Village Escape. Love Affair — Побег из аула: Операция Махаббат — Erbol Äpşuberov (Apshuberov) — comedic film — also director • 2016 — Taraz — Тараз — Aidar — drama film — also director • 2017 — A Kazakh girl — Қазақ аруы — cameo appearance — comedic mini-series • Elevator — Лифт — — — psychological drama film — only director • 2018 — I am the groom — Я — жених — Timur — comedic film — also director • Matchmakers — Құдалар — Jannette Nurlybaeva — comedic film — also director • 2019 — Akim — Аким — Azamat — comedic film — also director • 2022 — Bride Sabina 3 — Келинка Сабина-3 — Bride Sabina — comedic film — also director