He first appeared on stage at the age of 11 in the role of Tapdig in the play "Toy kimindir?" (playwright Maharram Alizade) at ADMKT. As a schoolboy he was one of the presenters of the state television programme "Yelkən." He also took part regularly in the children's programme-theatres "Buratino," "Qaranquş" and "Pioner." He attended various drama clubs and performed in productions of the "26 Baku Commissars" Palace of Culture People's Theatre. As a pupil, Yashar possessed evident natural talent. He was quick and agile, never became flustered, and was able to improvise. His voice was clear and engaging, his face pleasant and endearing. When young Yashar performed a role, his eyes would smile; he himself took delight in his own acting. Having appeared from the age of 10 in children's programmes on Azerbaijani television and performed children's roles on theatre stages, in 1968 he graduated from Secondary School No. 173 in Baku and enrolled in the Drama and Film Acting Faculty of the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts. There, his course supervisors — the renowned stage figures Rza Tahmasib and Aliheydar Alakbarov — taught him the finer points of the acting craft. ...At the institute, within the faculty and his course, Yashar was an informal leader. During his student years everyone expected a great deal from him; everyone considered him a "hazır aktyor." Yashar's talent was beyond his years. During his time at the institute he created such roles as Balash in "Sevil" and Salmanov in "Toy," and Neznamov in "Günahsız Müqəssirlər." After graduating from the institute in 1972, he served one year in the army and then worked as an actor in the institute's teaching theatre. On 1 December 1974, at the invitation of Tofig Kazimov, chief director of the Academic National Drama Theatre, he was accepted into that company's acting troupe.
