Dulquer Salmaan will next be seen in Raj-DK’s web series Guns & Gulaabs.
Dulquer Salmaan intends to imbibe an important quality of Mammootty to improve as an actor. He also talks about working on Raj-DK’s non-hierarchical Guns & Gulaabs set.
Dulquer Salmaan might come from an illustrious film family in Kerala, but over the years, he has successfully managed to carve a niche for himself. Having begun his acting career with Malayalam film Second Show (2012) more than a decade back and working across multiple film industries, he has rose to pan-Indian prominence today. But despite being Malayalam superstar Mammootty’s son, he started off as a rather under-confident actor.
In an exclusive interaction with Showsha, the actor, who has won wide critical acclaim and commercial credibility, reveals, “When I had started out, my reading of my favourite actors was that I love watching them onscreen and when I don’t see them in a scene, I miss them. And that’s a quality which you can’t pinpoint or just develop. It’s something that the audience connects with.” Talking about his biggest fear and insecurity, he says, “That was my fear before getting into films… if people will be able to watch me, will they like me onscreen, if I’m not there onscreen, will they miss, do I have that quality?”
The last eleven years might have made him more confident about his craft but Dulquer shares that he’s still the boy who can’t watch himself act onscreen. “I think all of us, actors, find it weird to watch ourselves on the screen beyond a point. I can watch my content as soon as it comes out and maybe a few times after that just to see how it has turned out but it feels weird to go back to it after a while. We’re all constantly growing and so, when I watch my earlier work, I feel, ‘Oh my god, what was I doing? I could’ve done it so much better.’”
So, what has been his biggest learning from his dad? “I think it’s good to learn. I see my dad revisiting his old work and performances from the eighties and I think it’s a good practice. I think I need to get there,” states the 37-year-old.
At present, Dulquer is awaiting the release of the Netflix show, Guns & Gulaabs, which marks his debut in the web series space. This is also the first time that he has collaborated with ace filmmaker duo, Raj and DK. Quiz him about the joy of being a part of their world, he remarks, “Yes, ‘joy’ is a good word. They’re great fun. They’re also such great writers and filmmakers. You work with them but it doesn’t really feel like work.”
What Dulquer has particularly enjoyed is the fact that there was ‘no hierarchy’ on the sets. Speaking about it, he points out, “Everybody collaborates and contributes together and there’s no egos on set. Raj and DK have got so much of clarity and they know exactly how much you can push. They’re there to look after and make sure that you stay in character. It’s nice that we can all give our opinions.”
Happy to have shared screen space with Rajkummar Rao, Adarsh Gourav and Gulshan Devaiah, the Sita Ramam actor excitedly says, “I got to meet Raj at work. We’ve known each other from events and stuff we attended together where we interacted a few times. It was great to see him at work. I’ve always loved Adarsh’s work. I discovered that he likes pizza. He looks at it with a lot of love and I don’t think he looks at even women like that (laughs). As for Gulshan, he loves to sing first thing in the morning.”
