Talking Television with Ajay Raj

Earliest memories of TV
I am one of the fortunate ones to have had a television set, that too, a coloured one rather early in the day. I remember all our neighbours coming over to watch TV on weekends. Back then. there was nothing much to watch every day and the concept of being glued to the TV set like it is these days didn’t exist. But when weekends arrived, we were excited about watching our favourite shows.Sundays, especially, were meant for watching Ramayana and Mahabharatha. In fact, when it was time to give my first stage performance, my grandmother enthused me to play Shakuni and the dialogues came from my Sunday TV viewing.
All-time favourite sitcom/soap
I loved watching Surabhi; it was hosted by Renuka Shahane and Siddharth Kak and featured such rich cultural and artistic content. Of course, from the satellite era too, there are many. They include Manvanthara, Muktha Muktha and Mayamruga.
Favourite television personality
Manjunath Hegde, Rajesh Nataranga and Dilip Raj.
One advice for newcomers
Before you get into television or filmdom with stars in your eyes, it’s also essential to get the right training. And there’s no better place to do so than theatre. It teaches you everything — from acting, emoting, makeup, lighting and also props. My passion lies in films today, but I owe it all to theatre.