It’s an actors delight to perform two personalities, says Ajay Sharma!
Despicable Ajay Sharma in YARO ka Tashan.
The new villain on Indian television, Ajay Sharma, is all set to play the heinous role of Mr. X in Sony SAB’s Y.A.R.O ka Tashan. His character is that of a power hungry megalomaniac who is very temperamental.
Obsessive and inflated by his ego, he is unable to accept defeat. Here’s what Ajay Sharma has to say about his new role:
How different is your role in Y.A.R.O. Ka Tashan than your previous role?
It’s an actor’s delight to get such a role where you get to perform two personalities. I have done seven or eight daily shows before this, where I even got to play the negative lead, but this role is something very different. I play the character of Mr. X, a dangerous villain who disguises as a commoner Raju to enter ‘Friends Society’ where YARO lives. The character is whimsical and a psychopath who speaks to his aggressive alter ego, a puppet (a ventriloquist dummy) who he refers to as Chhote’. He shares his frustrations, anger, victory and everything that he feels with his puppet because he does not have anyone to talk.
Describe more about your character.
This role is very special for me. He is a single character who performs in two different ways. Mr. X is a dreadful villain who just wants to conquer the world. He is physically strong and intimidating but when he plays portrays himself as Raju, his look is that of a simple and geeky social worker who fakes the persona of a nice guy while he is scheming to find Yo-Man. He talks to himself, takes advice from himself and appreciates himself through his puppet that he carries with him everywhere. Oddly, he even competes with the other him’.
What were the challenges that you face while playing this character?
Of course! What’s life without challenges? I use this a ventriloquist dummy (puppet) in the show. To operate the dummy as well as say the dialogue in a flow is a task. Usually, during the close shots I have a ventriloquist to operate the dummy, but, when they shoot for wide angles I have no choice but to operate it all by myself. It was challenging because there are wires inside this dummy which you need to be pulled in order to operate it. At the same time, I have to give the right expression without fidgeting with it. This requires a lot of concentration.
How difficult is it for you to play this two faceted role?
It wasn’t really difficult for me. I have been doing different kind of roles in various theaters and daily soaps for past 13 years. This has helped me a lot as an actor to shuffle between roles. However, when I started shooting as Raju, it was a confusing for us because we didn’t focus much on Raju’s character. The whole discussion was on Mr. X’s look and his behavior. We realized this when we started shooting for Raju’s character. So working on his character was difficult in the beginning. But now I am used to it.
Does comedy come easily to you?
Comedy has always been my forte. I wanted to do comedy and SAB TV gave me this amazing opportunity. With this show, I also get a chance to explore my comic side. I love Raju’s character because it gives me the opportunity to get out of the villain zone’ and entertain the audience with my comic quotient.
How does it feel to be part of Sony SAB?
I am grateful to Sony SAB for giving me this opportunity. Sony SAB is a medium which gives an actor the platform to open up and flaunt his capabilities. It gives us a chance to experiment our acting skills. I always wanted to be part of this team. As I have mentioned before, I am more comfortable with comedy as a genre, I always wanted to do comedy daily soaps and here I am with Y.A.R.O ka Tashan. I feel content now.