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Ekta Kapoor seems to have managed a good mix of new and old faces in her Kahani Hamaray Mahabhaarat Ki. While some of the key roles like Ganga, Bhishma and Draupadi have gone to Balaji Telefilms' loyals Sakshi Tanwar, Ronit Roy and Anita Hasnandani, there are other roles (like Yudhisthir and Dushyashan) which have been given to relative newcomers.
One of them is Ajaz Khan. Selected to play Dushyashan in the epic series, the newcomer has managed find a toehold in the Balaji camp through Mahabhaarat.
"I am originally from Ahmedabad and moved to Mumbai in 2000 for a career in modelling. I have done a number of ads like UTI Bank, Levis Jeans and Hero Honda. I even started ramp modelling. Though I knew I wanted to be an actor, I was too young and needed to mature a bit more," says Ajaz.
"I was doing reasonably well in my modelling career and had even reached the finals of Gladrags Mega Model hunt. But, due to some urgent business needs I had to go abroad and missed the finals. I guess my life was destined to happen otherwise!"
Though he wanted to develop a career in acting, Ajaz never really wanted to make it big in television initially. Bollywood came calling with Paath, which starred Sharad Kapoor. Unfortunately, the film flopped. "Frankly nothing much was happening in my career, so when I heard that Balaji Telefilms was doing the casting for their mega serial on Mahabhaarat, I immediately latched on to the opportunity," explains Ajaz.
After a number of screen tests Ajaz was selected to play Dushyashan. He says, "I was overjoyed...it is a very important break for me. I have been working very hard for this role (he has been working out seven days a week to get his physique right for the role)."
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About his role, Ajaz says, "Dushyashan is a maverick king and was largely responsible for the bastraharan of Draupadi. I am trying my best to portray the madness in my role."
Besides Mahabharat, Ajaz is all set to act in Sangeeth Sivan's Ek with Nana Patekar. The shooting is scheduled to start in September.