Moving ahead with zest
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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Ajay, who plays Aditya in the daily soap, `Kolangal,' has arrived.
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COMPLETELY CONFIDENT: Ajay
The young man rushing towards the protagonist with menacing eyes and reckless rage manages to stir you out of your supine posture and mid-evening lethargy in front of the idiot box.
The tele-serial is `Kolangal,' where Ajay plays Aditya, an unscrupulous, up and coming businessman.
"The channel's (Sun TV) reach is amazing ... in a matter of days I became a household name," laughs Ajay. On the Hindi film and television fronts he is known by his original name, Gaurav Kapoor. "But in the South I thought people would relate better to a name like Ajay, so ... " he smiles, as we settle down for a tête-à-tête in his apartment one morning. You had earlier seen him as Gaurav Kapoor in Dharan Mandrayar's `White Rainbow' (`Shwethambhar' in Hindi) opposite Sonali Kulkarni. Around the same time you had noticed Ajay coming out with a sensitive portrayal in `Agni Sakshi,' the Tamil version of the Hindi soap `Kora Kagaz.' Ajay did Salil Ankola's role in Tamil. ("It was too good a chance ... one I couldn't resist," he recalls.)
It's not often that you see a guy from Mumbai enter the Tamil fray and making it here. In that, Ajay is unique.
The `Kolangal' craze
The suave looks are anything but villainous, yet in `Kolangal' he is making it big as the bad man! And what's more surprising is that Ajay himself dubs for his role in `Kolangal.' " When I began working in `Kolangal,' director Thiruchelvam tried out 20 voices to dub for me, but he wasn't satisfied with any. Out of the blue he called me up one day to say that he planned to make me talk my part," smiles the effervescent actor.
Ajay heaps praise on Thiruchelvam, the writer-director of `Kolangal.' `Kolangal,' you hear, is a major draw in the Telugu and Malayalam belts too.
`Selvi,' the next step
Ajay is a consummate villain in `Selvi,' a Radaan TV production. Why is he so keen on playing negative roles? "Simple ... there are many shades to an anti-hero role and I find them interesting," is the reply.
But when the actor is so keen to make it in films, would not over-exposure on the small screen hamper his chances? "I don't take up more than two serials at a time. Eventually God decides what to give you and when," he says.
Ajay was a big hit in the Hindi version of the Tamil "Chiththi," where he played Riyaz Khan's role. `Choti Ma — Ek Anokha Bandhan' on Zee enjoyed sustained viewership. "Any UTV project I'm counted in," laughs Ajay. His Telugu TV appearances include `Rajugari Koothurulu.'
Movie roles
Actually Ajay's debut appearance was in Priyadarshan's `Gardish,' where as a 16-year old, he played Jackie Shroff's brother. "In `Hungama' I played Paresh Rawal's son and when Dharan Mandrayar gave me `Shweth ... ' I was thrilled."
Another niche film that Ajay worked in was `Nakshatra Kadhal,' a poignant story on AIDS awareness. He has done a couple of tele-films too. But he cannot forget the role of a subtle villain that he did in `Ooty,' his first Tamil film, which had Murali as hero. "Director Anwar cast me in a solid role in my very first film. It's sad it didn't do well," he reflects. Ajay is also a busy dubbing artiste for Hindi films. "Recently I gave my voice for Madhavan for the Hindi version of `Anbae Sivam,' " he informs. Recently Ajay got married to model and TV actress Nisha. Funnily he plays her brother in `Kolangal'! "It's only a role after all," he laughs.
" One reason for TV stars not being considered for films could be that their dates are totally blocked for television serials, where they work through the year on a 9 to 9 shift. So I keep at least 10 days in a month free and I'm waiting. Probably soon a big director will notice me on the small screen and offer me a good character role ... " Ajay flashes a confident smile. Meanwhile the enthusiastic actor will continue to hone his skills on the small screen.
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