Ajay is a well-known name to movie-lovers. Even a kid can name him as the one who played the role of Pandu’s friend in Pokiri or as who played the villain in Vikramarkudu. Ajay, who started with a small role, came a long way and became a hero now. I met him the first time with Anne Ravi, executive producer for the film Souryam. I was in touch with from then on and caught up with him when he was dubbing for Aa Okkadu. We chatted a while after he was done with the dubbing, and the same is presented as an interview :
Tell me about your background.
I do not have any film background. I am from Vijayawada and my father is a businessman. I thus had a chance to see a lot of places along with him from the childhood. I came to Hyderabad to enroll myself in long-term coaching for EAMCET, as my father wanted me to see me as an engineer. I used to watch every movie that released in Vijayawada, ever since I was a child, and I even used to go to some movies more than once when I had already completed all movies playing in theaters (laughs)! When I came to Hyderabad, it was like I now had access to more theatres and also more movies to watch (laughs). The coaching institute was in Jubilee Hills and I used to see some shooting or the other everyday in the vicinity of my institute. Slowly, I found myself asking inside, “Why not me?”, but my father wanted me to complete studies before I venture into films. I thus went to Pune to complete my engineering, I came back to Hyderabad and completed my MBA too. Meanwhile, I also joined Madhu Film Institute for basic acting lessons. I attended six months of classes before I was through, I got the role in Kauravudu.
It’s a long journey from Kauravudu to Aa Okkadu…
It’s with the film Khushi that I reached a wider audience and people started recognizing me. Then, with films like Pokiri and Vikramarkudu, I fell in the groove, so to say.
Even after you proved yourself as the main villain in Vikramarkudu and in a good supporting role in Pokiri, why is it that you still choose small roles that have not much scope for performance?
That’s because I want to do any role. It’s the director who has to decide what I am capable of. If Rajamouli gaaru had not given me that role, how’d anyone know I can do it? The dressing, thanks to Rama Rajamouli gaaru, and action are completely taken care of by Rajamouli for that film. It’s after Vikramarkudu that I started getting offers in Tamil and Kannada too. Thus, what I am cast in as is the director’s vision as to how to use me and it’s not simply mine.
What sort of home work would you usually do when doing a role?
I don’t do any. I just do what the director tells me, spontaneously. I believe that one needs homework only when doing a physically or mentally challenged role. For any other role, one can just go by the director’s words and the body language of co-artistes.
You’re doing both Aa Okkadu and Saaraayi Veerraju as hero and both are by debutants, S.S. Murthy and Kannan respectively. What do you think of them?
Both of them are really talented and know what exactly they want. They both had complete script before the film started and they were perfect with scene visualizations. They’re real good technicians too. Aa Okkadu is ready to release by this month end and Saaraayi Veerraju is 70% completed and will release by the end of July. When Murthy (of Aa Okkadu) comes to the sets and plans for twenty scenes, he knows which scenes he has to shoot continuously without changing the lights. With such a director, a lot of time is saved in shooting really!
You’re now joining the bandwagon of villain turned heroes. How do you feel about it?
I do not feel anything right now. That’s because I feel like I am doing just extending on what I was doing earlier too. If I feel I already achieved something, it’d simply be the end of everything. I’d like to be here, and would be here too, for a long time.
How did you manage the dance sequences? Dancing alongside another hero is different from dancing solo, right?
I practiced for two days before the actual shooting started. It cannot be done overnight; I think I can gradually catch up in that area.
Would you stop working in other non-hero roles, now that you’re doing two movies as a hero?
I’ll do other films too, if the role is good and if the director feels I can do it. I’ll simply go for it. I am still doing Arya-2 right now, right?
How do your parents feel about your success now?
They’re happy about it. My wife is happy too, and my son is too young to understand. I have no complaints about my family’s support for me on the whole, I can say.
Tell me about your background.
I do not have any film background. I am from Vijayawada and my father is a businessman. I thus had a chance to see a lot of places along with him from the childhood. I came to Hyderabad to enroll myself in long-term coaching for EAMCET, as my father wanted me to see me as an engineer. I used to watch every movie that released in Vijayawada, ever since I was a child, and I even used to go to some movies more than once when I had already completed all movies playing in theaters (laughs)! When I came to Hyderabad, it was like I now had access to more theatres and also more movies to watch (laughs). The coaching institute was in Jubilee Hills and I used to see some shooting or the other everyday in the vicinity of my institute. Slowly, I found myself asking inside, “Why not me?”, but my father wanted me to complete studies before I venture into films. I thus went to Pune to complete my engineering, I came back to Hyderabad and completed my MBA too. Meanwhile, I also joined Madhu Film Institute for basic acting lessons. I attended six months of classes before I was through, I got the role in Kauravudu.
It’s a long journey from Kauravudu to Aa Okkadu…
It’s with the film Khushi that I reached a wider audience and people started recognizing me. Then, with films like Pokiri and Vikramarkudu, I fell in the groove, so to say.
Even after you proved yourself as the main villain in Vikramarkudu and in a good supporting role in Pokiri, why is it that you still choose small roles that have not much scope for performance?
That’s because I want to do any role. It’s the director who has to decide what I am capable of. If Rajamouli gaaru had not given me that role, how’d anyone know I can do it? The dressing, thanks to Rama Rajamouli gaaru, and action are completely taken care of by Rajamouli for that film. It’s after Vikramarkudu that I started getting offers in Tamil and Kannada too. Thus, what I am cast in as is the director’s vision as to how to use me and it’s not simply mine.
What sort of home work would you usually do when doing a role?
I don’t do any. I just do what the director tells me, spontaneously. I believe that one needs homework only when doing a physically or mentally challenged role. For any other role, one can just go by the director’s words and the body language of co-artistes.
You’re doing both Aa Okkadu and Saaraayi Veerraju as hero and both are by debutants, S.S. Murthy and Kannan respectively. What do you think of them?
Both of them are really talented and know what exactly they want. They both had complete script before the film started and they were perfect with scene visualizations. They’re real good technicians too. Aa Okkadu is ready to release by this month end and Saaraayi Veerraju is 70% completed and will release by the end of July. When Murthy (of Aa Okkadu) comes to the sets and plans for twenty scenes, he knows which scenes he has to shoot continuously without changing the lights. With such a director, a lot of time is saved in shooting really!
You’re now joining the bandwagon of villain turned heroes. How do you feel about it?
I do not feel anything right now. That’s because I feel like I am doing just extending on what I was doing earlier too. If I feel I already achieved something, it’d simply be the end of everything. I’d like to be here, and would be here too, for a long time.
How did you manage the dance sequences? Dancing alongside another hero is different from dancing solo, right?
I practiced for two days before the actual shooting started. It cannot be done overnight; I think I can gradually catch up in that area.
Would you stop working in other non-hero roles, now that you’re doing two movies as a hero?
I’ll do other films too, if the role is good and if the director feels I can do it. I’ll simply go for it. I am still doing Arya-2 right now, right?
How do your parents feel about your success now?
They’re happy about it. My wife is happy too, and my son is too young to understand. I have no complaints about my family’s support for me on the whole, I can say.
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