No work for TV, Film artists in Jammu: Ajay Safaya

TNN Bureau. Updated: 9/17/2016 1:34:55 PM This Person: Then and Now

Artists in Jammu and Kashmir get a raw deal; many keep looking for work even their payments are not given in time. Many artists have not been paid remuneration since 2011 by DD Kashmir, said Ajay Safaya, an eminent actor from Jammu.

Ajay Safaya started his career with theatre. He attended various theatre workshops to learn acting and worked under Mushtaq Kak, a celebrated theatre personality of the state.

Ajay started with Amateur Theatre Group (ATG) as an actor in 1989 and his first production was “Garak Ho Raha Manukh” in Punjabi directed by Mushtaq Kak. He then acted in a number of plays of the same group among which were “Babu Ji”, “Devayani”, “Andha Yug” and “Marekhey”.

He also acted with Rangyug in “Ashad Ka Ek Din”, directed by Deepak Kumar and with Theatre Mitraa in “Desh Ke Liye”, directed by Sanjay Kapil. He also attended workshop organised by the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi in collaboration with Natrang and played an important role in “Aur Kabeera Khada Bazaar Mein”.

Ajay has performed in almost 60 plays broadcast on “Yuv Vani” service of AIR Jammu as well. He acted in the Doordarshan serial “Ek Kahani” in 1994. Since then he has worked in many serials including “Daldal”, “Sailab”, “Talashi”, “Zameer Kabhi Marta Nahi” and many more.

When asked about his favourite performance, he said: “Each one is special to me but if I have to choose then I will go for “Dr. Meharban” and “Gawahi Kaun Dega”. The former is a Dogri classic directed by K.K Raina while in the latter directed by Sandeep Kaw he played a negative role.

In “Dr. Meharban”, he played the role of a heart patient. He recalled that his parents used to cry whenever they would see his performance in that serial, making it more special.

Ajay further said, “Dr. Meharban was the most unexpected thing that happened to me in my career. I was in dilemma when the role of a heart patient was offered to me by the legendary director Pran Kishore. I could not sleep that night and decided to surrender the role but then M.P Sharma, a renowned theatre personality from NSD and his wife motivated me to go for it and finally my performance was appreciated”.

When asked what future he sees of film and TV in J&K, Ajay said that it is very uncertain despite of the fact that J&K has immense talent. He added that DD Kashmir Channel has made no programme since 2011 and only the old serials are being telecast. Ajay said that all artists want the DD Kashmir channel to be at par with other regional channels. The DD Kashimr channel is lying defunct since 2011.

Safaya said that the local artists have lost hope and are hence looking for some other livelihood.

In his message to young artists, Ajay said that they should put their heart and soul into work as complete dedication is the only key to success. He said that most of the times, the youth get attracted because of glamour and quit the field soon which should not happen as this field demands time and dedication.

Some more serials of Ajay Safaya with Directors’ name

Serial Director

Kaun Kiska Hota Hain Sanjay Raina

Zameer Kabhi Marta Nahi Suraj Raina

Peere Parocha Surag M.P. Sharma

Sailab Preety Sapru

Taqdeerah Preety Sapru

Ek Sarkari Juta Rahat Qazmi (feature film)

Talashi Sudeer Talwar

Gawahi Kaun Dega Sandeep Kaw

—Amit Gupta


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