The opening scene of the movie is actually an epilogue.
Gérard Darmon who is playing the leading role did not speak Russian nor Georgian. His voice was dubbed throughout the entire film. However, his acting skills prevent even the most careful viewer from noticing that fact.
Gérard Darmon plays two characters; Mehrab, and Yakov (Yasha).
Starting with the comedy "Don't Cry!", the credits of the director's films include a certain Rene Khobua who was involved in the episodes, but there was no real actor with that name. In reality, Rene Khobua was a Georgian builder whom Georgiy Danelia and Rezo Gabriadze met in a hotel while working on the film. They tried to "test" their script on him, while at the same time taking him to feasts with friends. Khobua listened to them obediently until it became clear that he did not know Russian well (the script was written in Russian), but out of politeness he did not mention this and simply praised everything that Gabriadze and Danelia wrote. Gabriadze suggested inserting Khobua's name into the credits of the film, and thereby thank the builder.
From Wikipedia.