Ajay Rao

Ajay Rao
Born	Ajai Rao 24 January 1980 Hospet, Karnataka
Other names	Krishna Ajai Rao
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2003–present
Spouse(s)	Sapna (m. 2014)

Ajay Rao (also credited as Krishna Ajai Rao) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Kannada film industry. He is commonly known as "Sandalwood Krishna". He debuted with the 2003 film Excuse Me (2003) and got his big break with the successful films like Taj_Mahal_(2008_film) (2008) Krishnan Love Story (2010) and Krishnan Marriage Story (2011). With the film Krishna Leela (2015), he debuted as a producer launching his home banner "Sri Krishna Arts and Creations".^[1]

Career

Ajai Rao made his debut as an actor in director Prem's Excuse Me. The other cast members were Ramya and Sunil Raoh. He played the role of a musician who is in love with the girl, but is unable to tell her. The film was a big success and Ajay's work was appreciated. The film celebrated 25 weeks in Karnataka's biggest theatre Kapali. His subsequent films, however, failed to perform well at the box office until Taj Mahal.

Fresh Break

Ajai's career got a new start of life with the 2008 film Taj Mahal. The film was critically and commercially a big success and brought back Ajay Rao into stardom. Excuse Me co-star Sunil was initially cast for the part. When he backed out due to personal reasons, Ajay stepped in. Taj Mahal was one of the big hits of 2008 and revived Ajay's career.^[2]

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Title	Year	Role	Director(s)	Notes	Ref.
Kiccha	2003	Uncredited	P. A. Arun Prasad	Played the role of Kiccha's friend	[3]
Excuse Me	2003	Ajay	Prem		[4]
Surya The Great	2005	Surya	Rushi		[5]
Green Signal	2005	Indra	Eshwar		[6]
O Priyathama	2006	Chinnu / Yashas	Shiva Prabhu		[7]
Amruthavani	2007	Samarth	B. R. Rajashekar		[8]
Hetthare Hennanne Herabeku	2007		Om Sai Prakash	Guest appearance	[9]
Ganesha	2007	Stranger	Dinesh Babu		[10]
Huttidare Kannada Nadalli Huttabeku	2008		Mahadev		[11]
Taj Mahal	2008	Ajay Kumar	R. Chandru	Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Actor	[12]
Jaaji Mallige	2009	Ramu	R. Anantha Raju		[13]
Prem Kahani	2009	Manja	R. Chandru		[14]
Krishnan Love Story	2010	Krishna	Shashank		[15]
Manasina Maathu	2011	Ajay	R. Anantha Raju		[16]
Krishnan Marriage Story	2011	Krishna	Nuthan Umesh	Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Actor	[17]
Breaking News	2012	Arjun	Nagathihalli Chandrashekar		[18]
Advaitha	2013	Vivek	B. M. Giriraj		[19]
Manada Mareyalli	2014	Himself	Rajeev Nethra	Special appearance	[20]
Rose	2014	Ajay	Sahana H. S.	Credited as Krishna Ajay Rao	[21]
Jai Bhajarangabali	2014	Ajju / Ajay	Ravivarma Gubbi	Credited as Krishna Ajay Rao	[22]
Krishna-Leela	2015	Krishna	Shashank	Also producer	[23]
Endendigu	2015	Krishna	Imran Sardhariya		[24]
A 2nd Hand Lover	2015	Ajai	Raghava Loki		[25]
Maamu Tea Angadi	2015	Himself	A. Paramesh	Special appearance in the song "Maamu Tea Angadi Jagali" Also playback singer	[26]
Krishna-Rukku	2016	Krishna	Anil Kumar		[27]
Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu	2016	Himself	D. Sumana Kittur	Guest appearance	[28]
Amar Akbar Anthony	2016	Amar	Guru Deshpande	Announced	[29]

References

1. Ajay Rao Turns Producer
2. http://www.gandhadagudi.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3661
3. "Kiccha – ಕಿಚ್ಚ (2003/೨೦೦೩)". Kannada Movies Info.
4. "Excuse Me – ಎಕ್ಸ್‌ಕ್ಯೂಸ್ ಮಿ (2003/೨೦೦೩)". Kannada Movies Info.
5. "Surya The Great – ಸೂರ್ಯ ದಿ ಗ್ರೇಟ್ (2005/೨೦೦೫)". Kannada Movies Info.
6. "Green Signal – ಗ್ರೀನ್ ಸಿಗ್ನಲ್ (2005/೨೦೦೫)". Kannada Movies Info.
7. "O Priyathama – ಓ ಪ್ರಿಯತಮ (2006/೨೦೦೬)". Kannada Movies Info.
8. "Amrutha Vani – ಅಮೃತವಾಣಿ (2007/೨೦೦೭)". Kannada Movies Info.
9. "Hetthare Hennanne Herabeku – ಹೆತ್ತರೆ ಹೆಣ್ಣನ್ನೇ ಹೆರಬೇಕು (2007/೨೦೦೭)". Kannada Movies Info.
10. "Ganesha – ಗಣೇಶ (2007/೨೦೦೭)". Kannada Movies Info.
11. "Huttidare Kannada Nadalli Huttabeku – ಹುಟ್ಟಿದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ನಾಡಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಬೇಕು (2008/೨೦೦೮)". Kannada Movies Info.
12. "Tajmahal – ತಾಜ್‌ಮಹಲ್ (2008/೨೦೦೮)". Kannada Movies Info.
13. "Jaaji Mallige – ಜಾಜಿ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ (2009/೨೦೦೯)". Kannada Movies Info.
14. "Prem Kahani – ಪ್ರೇಮ್ ಕಹಾನಿ (2009/೨೦೦೯)". Kannada Movies Info.
15. "Krishnan Love Story – ಕೃಷ್ಣನ್ ಲವ್ ಸ್ಟೋರಿ (2010/೨೦೧೦)". Kannada Movies Info.
16. "Manasina Mathu – ಮನಸಿನ ಮಾತು (2011/೨೦೧೧)". Kannada Movies Info.
17. "Krishnan Marriage Story – ಕೃಷ್ಣನ್ ಮ್ಯಾರೇಜ್ ಸ್ಟೋರಿ (2011/೨೦೧೧)". Kannada Movies Info.
18. "Breaking News – ಬ್ರೇಕಿಂಗ್ ನ್ಯೂಸ್ (2012/೨೦೧೨)". Kannada Movies Info.
19. "Advaitha – ಅದ್ವೈತ (2013/೨೦೧೩)". Kannada Movies Info.
20. "Manada Mareyalli – ಮನದ ಮರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ (2014/೨೦೧೪)". Kannada Movies Info.
21. "Rose – ರೋಜ್ (2014/೨೦೧೪)". Kannada Movies Info.
22. "Jai Bhajarangabali – ಜೈ ಭಜರಂಗಬಲಿ (2014/೨೦೧೪)". Kannada Movies Info.
23. "Krishna Leela – ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಲೀಲಾ (2015/೨೦೧೫)". Kannada Movies Info.
24. "Endendigu – ಎಂದೆಂದಿಗೂ (2015/೨೦೧೫)". Kannada Movies Info.
25. "A 2nd Hand Lover – ಎ ಸೆಕೆಂಡ್ ಹ್ಯಾಂಡ್ ಲವರ್ (2015/೨೦೧೫)". Kannada Movies Info.
26. "Mamu Tea Angadi – ಮಾಮು ಟೀ ಅಂಗಡಿ (2015/೨೦೧೫)". Kannada Movies Info.
27. "Krishna Rukku – ಕೃಷ್ಣ ರುಕ್ಕು (2016/೨೦೧೬)". Kannada Movies Info.
28. "Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu – ಕಿರಗೂರಿನ ಗಯ್ಯಾಳಿಗಳು (2016/೨೦೧೬)". Kannada Movies Info.
29. "Multi-starrer Amar Akbar Antony Starting in May". Chitraloka.

External links

• Ajay Rao at the Internet Movie Database