Dulquer Salmaan is a compulsively likeable star. It probably has something to do with his easy demeanour. Over a Zoom call from his home in Kochi, he notices my bookshelf. “I like your collection,” he tells me. Perhaps his endearing on-screen characters such as Faizi ( Ustad Hotel ), Charlie ( Charlie ) and Aadi ( OK Kanmani ) influence our perception of his off-screen persona. Even when he plays a conman — as he did in his last Tamil film that released earlier this year, Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal — it is easy to root for his character.
So it isn’t surprising to see his latest Instagram post, revealing a new hairstyle (with long curls) get over 1,00,000 likes. I ask if the look is for an upcoming role and he laughs. “I did it because I can. As actors, we constantly have to get into different characters and looks. So when my shooting stopped in March [with the pandemic], I thought of letting loose and did not cut my hair,” says Salmaan, who spent lockdown cooking, reading and playing with his three-year-old daughter, Maryam.
A still from Maniyarayile Ashokan
After a long break, his attention is now occupied with films once again following the Onam release of Maniyarayile Ashokan . His latest production venture features American-Indian actor Jacob Gregory in a lead role for the first time, and despite opening to mixed reviews (it was panned for being “largely dull” and “predictable”), it has been trending at No 3 in India on Netflix this week.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
How have you coped with the pandemic?
You have good days and bad days. Initially it was nice to get some much-needed family time but soon, I started to worry about the future of the world, of our work. We just started a production house and there are mounting interest costs every month. There are days when I am staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. But I have spent some amazing time with my daughter who turned three during lockdown. I’ve mostly been a ‘visiting dad’ because of shoots. Now, she is speaking to me a lot more and is involving me in her everyday life.
Maniyarayile Ashokan is your second production venture this year.
It is our second release, but the first film we made. It would have been easy to ask a famous EP [executive producer] to produce the film and take care of the budget, but I was keen on getting a new team under my production house. Gregory wanted my opinion on a script that a bunch of youngsters had approached him with, asking him to play the lead. After hearing it, I thought ‘Why don’t we produce the film? Even if it went wrong, it would give a new team an opportunity’. But it was a lovely experience. With so many newcomers [five departments] it reminded me of my first film as an actor, Second Show . I wasn’t the only one messing up and we were all learning together. So, in that sense, I love that we began with this film.
There seems to be camaraderie in Malayalam cinema. Directors play small roles in others’ films; Fahadh Faasildid a voiceover in your movie,CIA.
I don’t think anything is planned. Because we are so small, we all know each other and reach out to our friends and associates for help. And they are willing to do it. The thing is, you start working on a film with a team and by the time you start your next film, some of those teammates might have started working on another film with a competing actor. Then you can’t be like ‘I am not going to like you because you are working with this guy’. You are insecure only early in your career. Once you feel like people have accepted you, you are open to doing these little things.
- Nepotism is something Salmaan hasn’t shied away from addressing. While he’s stated that it would be a lie if he said “I really struggled or I had to audition”, last year on season four of No Filter Neha , the actor said he’s glad his father has never helped him out. “My dad [Mammootty] was like ‘don’t come to me, I’m not going to make any phone calls’... He still, to this day, hasn’t, which I love him for.”
The earlier generation had two big stars, Mohanlal and Mammooty. Now we see actors like Soubin and Suraj, who used to be comedians, playing lead roles. In the future, will there be a constellation of talented actors?
Soubin was an assistant director for 17 years. Out of sheer talent, he became a lead actor. The same goes with Suraj. He was doing comedy roles for a long time and when he decided to do serious cinema, he became a phenomenon. As soon as you are called a star, it becomes a burden. Every film is expected to do certain numbers. With Mohanlal and Mammooty, it was a given because of their career graphs and fan-following of over three and a half decades. The rest of us must constantly keep doing good content. Because there are so many different kinds of movies being made, everybody has a chance.
A poster of Kurup
Fahadh Faasil’s Onam release, CU Soon, was shot during the lockdown. It proved that working from home is an option in cinema as well.
It is amazing. I love that the team got together during this time and wanted to experiment. And everyone has enjoyed the film. A lot of people are now thinking of overcoming limitations in terms of resources or location. It is encouraging for filmmakers and the industry when movies reach far and wide just because of the concept and execution; language is not a barrier any more.
Does the success of such films mean that there will be more OTT-specific Malayalam content?
It is going to be more organic. My film Kurup , for instance, won’t be viable for OTT. It is meant to be watched in theatres. You need a crowd to react to it. At the same time, we all want to keep working. If people are consuming content only online, we will make content for OTT. So they decide what they want.
