Casting a spell

Ajay is currently the most happening villain in telugu cinema. With his well-toned physique and an underplayed but persuasive personality, the main antagonist in Lakshmi Kalyanam is ripping the screen apart with his high octave action. He’s played the antagonist in Rajamouli’s Vikramarkudu and the recent Desamuduru too, but Teja’s latest release has put him in spotlight.
 
A native of Vijayawada, Ajay joined the Madhu Film Institute in Hyderabad to learn acting. “I am basically a very introvert person but had the burning desire to make it in the movies, so the only option to overcome this shyness was to seek professional help. Yes, the course did help me to a large extent but again there are so many factors that you got to rely on to become successful.”

Ajay narrates an interesting incident. “My college was in Jubilee Hills and I would often watch the many shootings that would take place on the roads. I saw how the film stars were pampered and looked after on the sets and I decided I wanted to be there. So the next thing I did was to give up my engineering and hunt for a role. I worked in Kauravudu which had Naga Babu as the hero but the inane role didn’t help me get any film. So I went around with my portfolios to offices and one day I got to know that some selections for a small role is going on for Kushi, a Pawan Kalyan starrer. I found myself in the film and after that there wasn’t any looking back.”

The phone doesn’t stop ringing and the actor is brimming with happiness. His negative role in Lakshmi Kalyanam is drawing encomiums. He pines for the heroine and is seen taking a tour with ten Rottweilers throughout the film. Ask him the experience of working with the dogs. He says, “These dogs are trained to kill, they are most ferocious and are banned in the US. In the film, I’m their master and they don’t spare me either. Teja managed to pick ten of them from different households, and they were not trained but worked in shifts.”

Ajay says the best compliment he’s got so far was from a lady who came from his village. After seeing Lakshmi Kalyanam she was so upset and offended with his negative role and told him not repeat such roles again. His wife finds his roles on screen terrifying. But on the whole Ajay is a happy man. Ask the soft spoken man if he’s replaced Gopichand, he guffaws. “I’m just doing what’s given to me. It has been a long wait but it has been very sweet.”