As he turns 40, Dulquer Salmaan’s passion keeps him moving forward as a successful actor

Even as the actor turns 40 today, 28 July, he is busy shooting for his new multilingual movie King of Kotha which will release in August for Onam.

The actor will have a theatrical release in Malayalam after a gap of two years. His last theatrical release Kurup was released in 2021.

Entry into films

Dulquer Salmaan’s upcoming movie is ‘King of Kotha’. (Supplied)

Dulquer forayed into Indian cinema, an industry that is always criticised for nepotism, without much fanfare.

A self-made man, he has his own business ventures before entering the filmdom. He is the owner of a web portal that trades cars. He is also the director of Bangalore-based Motherhood Hospital.

Interestingly, Dulquer — who had never been overshadowed by his father’s legacy — took a long time to venture into movies.

He debuted with Second Show in 2012 at the age of 29. The movie was noted for its unconventional storytelling.

His second movie Ustaad Hotel was also released the same year and became a tremendous hit. It received the National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

The actor was later seen in American Born Confused Desi (ABCD) in 2013, Neelakasam Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (2013), Pattam Pole (2013), and Salala Mobiles (2014). Of these, Pattam Pole and Salala Mobiles were failures.

Dulquer Salmaan got a major hit with the multi-starrer film Bangalore Days (2014), directed by Anjali Menon. Later, he acted in Renjith’s Njan (2014) and Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram (2014).

Related: ‘Heeriye’: Dulquer’s first music video is a soulful romantic number

Passionate actor

Dulquer Salmaan with his father Mammootty. (Supplied)

Dulquer is one of the young artistes besides Fahadh Faasil and Prithviraj Sukumaran who are known as pan-Indian Malayalam actors.

He debuted in Tamil with the bilingual film Vaayai Moodi Pesavum in 2014.

In 2015, his Tamil film Oh Kadhal Kanmani with Nithya Menen received critical appreciation. Helmed by Mani Ratnam, it won him a huge fanbase in Tamil.

Later, Dulquer made his Telugu debut with Mahanati (2018). In the flick, he appeared as the yesteryear actor Gemini Ganeshan. His body language as Ganeshan and his acting skills were appreciated both by critics and audiences.

In 2022, the actor did Sita Ramam (2022) which became a phenomenal success. The Telugu film was also released in multiple languages and made him a pan-Indian actor.

He will soon start working with Vaathi/Sir (2023) director Venky Atluri for his next Telugu movie.

Related: With successive hits, Dulquer Salmaan turns into a pan-India star

Entry into Bollywood

Dulquer Salmaan with his mother. (Supplied)

The young actor made his Hindi debut in Karwaan directed by Akarsh Khurana in 2018. The movie also featured the late Irrfan Khan and Mithila Palkar. It was a hit.

Dulquer was later seen in the 2019 movie The Zoya Factor which got mixed reviews and didn’t do well in theatres.

In 2022, he joined hands with R Balki for Chup: The Revenge of the Artist where he played a psycho killer who targets film critics. A tribute to Guru Dutt, the movie was a commercial success.

Dulquer, who has been in the industry for over a decade, has expressed that he enjoys acting as he is passionate about it.

The actor received the Kerala State Award for Best Actor in 2016 for Charlie (2015). He also received other awards like Filmfare Awards and Kerala State Film Critics Association Awards.

Related: I feared I would tarnish my dad’s name: Dulquer Salmaan

Choice of films 

Dulquer with his wife Amal Sufiya. (Supplied)

Dulquer faced major criticism during his initial days regarding his dialogue delivery. But he followed in the footsteps of his father Mammootty to become successful.

The Kurup-actor feels that he has a responsibility towards doing good cinema.

Dulquer reiterated that he would never tarnish the image of his father — who acted in more than 400 films — and that he would take the values of his father as an inspiration.

He is also aware of the criticism he faces, being the son of a star actor. But he proved himself as a passionate actor.

The choice of Dulquer’s films is quite different. After doing a series of romantic films like Hey Sinamika (2022), Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithal (2020), and Sita Ramam, he announced that he would take a break from them.

Related: I am tired of playing the lover boy, says Dulquer

His filmography shows that he likes to do films of different genres. His recent films like Chup, Kurup, and Salute (2022) are some examples.

He also likes to surprise his audience. His latest Hindi music video Heeriye is a surprise package that wasn’t given much publicity.

Dulquer Salmaan turns 40 today. (Supplied)

The actor will next be seen in the upcoming Netflix series Gulabs and Gangs directed by Raj and DK.

Auto enthusiast

Dulquer is also an auto-enthusiast like his father. He is an investor in the startup Ultraviolette which makes electric performance motorcycles.

He owns high-end cars such as Ferrari 458 Spider, Porsche Panamera Turbo, Mercedes AMG G63, BMW X6 M, and Porsche 911 GT3.

Further, the actor owns vintage cars at his house in Kochi. He is that car geek who goes deep in search to find vintage cars.