Kartikeya: It was surreal to act along with Ajith sir whose movies I loved watching long ago

After a long wait, Ajith-starrer Valimai directed by H Vinoth, is releasing in theatres on February 24. Tollywood actor Kartikeya Gummakonda is making his debut in the project. He plays the antagonist in the action thriller, which has chase sequences, involving bikes, cars and a bus. 

In a recent interview to a YouTube channel, the young actor opened up about the experiences he has working with a huge star like Ajith and being part of such a big budget project. 

According to him, playing negative character offers more scope in terms of acting. He was last seen essaying the role of an antagonist in Tollywood flick Gang Leader (streaming on Amazon Prime Video). He said, "To begin with, I didn't expect to land such a huge role in a big budget action project. There are certain limitations while you play the hero, but it is a joy to play a villain. We can explore out capabilities to the maximum." 

Kartikeya said he was impressed with Vinoth's sophomore project Theeran Adhigaram Ondru (streaming on Amazon Prime Video), but he never expected that he would play a crucial role in the director's project. "I watched the Telugu version of the film, Khakee, and it was a pleasure to work with Vinoth sir. He knows what he wants on set, but it is difficult to know if he is satisfied with a sequence or not," he said.

On working with Ajith, Kartikeya said that it was a dream come true for him to act along with someone whose films he enjoyed watching at a much younger age. He considers Vaali (streaming on Amazon Prime Video) to be his favourite film and said that Mankatha (streaming on MX Player), Varalaru (streaming on Amazon Prime Video) and Villain (streaming on MX Player and YouTube) are a few other Ajith movies he loves. 

When he was asked about Ajith giving up the moniker 'Thala' a while ago, Kartikeya said that he was not surprised with the decision as the star, according to him, is a private person who makes others important. Kartikeya said, "Many stars expect others to heap praise on them. But Ajith sir isn't interested in it; in fact, he likes making others important."