Mumbai: Being the son of the Malayalam film icon Mammootty, young Dulquer Salmaan tells you he has always been a risk-taker – because that is what his superstar father has always taught him to do.
“My father always encourages me to take risks. Right from my initial days, he told me that my food, lodging and other basic things were secure. So, as a youngster if I don’t take risks, if I don’t experiment, who will? Dad always says that unless you make mistakes you cannot build your character as an individual, and grow as an artist. He does not believe in spoon-feeding me in the film business,” Dulquer Salmaan told this agency.
Dulquer Salmaan has seen the south Indian film industry closely, even before he entered the business with his debut film ‘Second Show’ in 2012. He then went on to act in South Indian films like ‘Ustad Hotel’, ‘Njaan’, ‘Vaayai Moodi Pesavum’, ‘O Kadhal Kanmani’, ‘Charlie’. In 2018 Dulquer Salmaan made his debut in the Hindi film industry with ‘Karwaan’. His second film ‘The Zoya Factor’ alongside Sonam Kapoor has recently hit the screens.
So what is his process of getting under the skin of a character? “It really depends on the kind of character I am playing, because in some, I need physical training while in others I need more of mental preparation and observation,” Dulquer Salmaan replied.
“In my debut Hindi film, ‘Karwaan’, I played a regular guy. It was a silent character so I was not in that zone of heavy preparation. For ‘The Zoya Factor’ though, I had to learn cricket,” Dulquer Salmaan added.
Coming from a Malayalam household and brought up in Chennai, he is now working in Hindi films. How does Dulquer Salmaan then manage to switch between languages with ease?
“Hindi was my second language and I grew up in Chennai, so my Tamil is good. My mother made sure that my sister and I speak in Malayalam at home, so that at least we learn our mother tongue. Having said that, I think in English, so any other language I converse in, I actually translate in my mind before saying it,” the actor informed.
According to Dulquer, such a situation is an outcome of his schooling. Initially, his parents used to point out the fact that he does not speak good Malayalam.
“I think it is a generational thing. I was admitted in an English medium school, so it is only natural that I would pick up that language. Of course, back then I did not know I would become an actor,” Dulquer stated.
“However, I always had an interest to learn different languages as kid. So I am constantly learning and I think dad is happy with the fact that I am doing everything by myself,” said Dulquer. He also mentioned that ‘eating rice’ is the most ‘Mallu habit’ he has, rather than speaking in Malayalam.
IANS