"Moskovskaya Borzaya" ("The Moscow Borzoi") is a 2015 Russian crime melodrama series directed by Roman Prosvirnin and Yegor Anashkin. Olga Krasko stars in the lead role. The story is set in Nizhny Novgorod, where Major Alevtina Borzova of the criminal investigation department is transferred from Moscow, and most of the location filming took place in the city.[1]

About the Series

Alevtina Borzova is a major in the Moscow criminal investigation department, a professional with authority among her colleagues. After it becomes known at work that she is having an affair with her boss's son-in-law, she is forced to leave the capital and take charge of the serious crimes unit in Nizhny Novgorod. There she is met by an established, all-male team that refuses to accept its new boss, an outsider from Moscow.[2]

The series consists of 20 episodes. Its working title was "Legavaya" ("The Pointer").[1] The screenplay was written by Yevgeny Ungard; the producers are Aleksandr Kushayev and Irina Smirnova-Beynarovich, the cinematographer is Andrey Vatsura, and the composers are Denis Novikov, Ilya Yefimov, and Sergey Grigoryev.[3] It was produced by the film company "Russkoye".[1]

The main cast includes Olga Krasko (Alevtina Borzova), Oleg Almazov, Aleksandr Ratnikov, Sergey Mukhin, Nikolay Lunin, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Mikhail Vladimirov, Vladimir Litvinov, Vladimir Tereshchenko, and Taisiya Ruchkovskaya.[2]

Filming in Nizhny Novgorod

Most of the filming took place in Nizhny Novgorod; the creators sought to include recognizable places in the city in the frame.[1] Some scenes were shot in Moscow, and certain Nizhny Novgorod location shots were used as stand-ins for Moscow streets.[4] Local residents were brought in to play extras in some episodes.[4] Filming took place not only in summer but also in December, which made working conditions difficult.[4]

The following Nizhny Novgorod locations appeared on screen:[4]

The building that stands in for the police department from the outside is a children's creativity center; the department's interiors were shot in Avtozavod.[4] In the plot, the main heroine lives in a private house in the city center.[4]

In one of the episodes, the Nizhny Novgorod band "Chkalov" performed a musical number in a wedding scene.[1]

Release and reception

The series premiered on August 4, 2015, on the TV channel MIR; in Russia, it first aired on August 5, 2015, and was rebroadcast on October 17, 2016.[1][3] The series was followed by a sequel, "Moscow Borzoi 2" (2018), in which the lead role was played by a different actress.[3] On Kinopoisk, the first season has a rating of 7.2 based on more than three thousand votes.[3] The first season was included in a selection of the highest-rated Russian TV series of 2016.[1]

Sources

  1. kinomania.ru — Moscow Borzoi (TV series, 2015)
  2. prdisk.ru — The series Moscow Borzoi — Buy on DVD
  3. kinopoisk.ru
  4. bolshoyvopros.ru — Where was the series Moscow Borzoi filmed?
  5. serialchi.top — Moscow Borzoi series, seasons 1 and 2, all episodes, watch online free in good quality without ads
  6. ivi.ru — The series Moscow Borzoi: description, trailers, plot, interesting facts, and much more about the series
  7. kino-o-voine-hd.cc — Moscow Borzoi series (seasons 1 and 2) — Watch online free, all episodes, in good HD 720–1080 quality