I was first introduced to Dulquer Salman by my cousins with a film called Vikramadithyan (2014). We had all just watched Premam and were just beginning to witness the new wave in Malayalam cinema that was taking viewers by a storm. “He is Mammootty’s son”, they said and I was intrigued. The Lal Jose comedy soon became an instant hit in my family, so much so that it was re-watched and savoured multiple times for at least the next three months. I would get out of my room to see Dulquer in a Sabarimala attire, beating up a bunch of goons, with Bijibal’s earworms playing in the background. From then on, DQ became a household name.
Dulquer, who has since crafted a diverse identity for himself, quickly became much more than just ‘Mammootty’s son’. As an actor, he has traversed linguistic boundaries and has made a mark for himself beyond Malayalam and in the Telugu, Tamil and Hindi film industries. As the actor turns 37 this Friday, let us look at ten films that prove why Dulquer is among the most important new-age actors in the Indian film industry today.
Streaming on: Disney+Hotstar
What to write about a film that has already been extensively written about and touched so many lives? Anwar Rasheed’s Ustad Hotel showed the world how a Malabar parotta gets made, what a Sulaimani chai is, all the while exploring masculinity and interconnecting food to human emotions. Dulquer plays Faizi, a young, ambitious chef who wishes to pursue cooking in the UK much to the dismay of his father. As his father forbids him, Faizi runs away to Kozhikode and meets his grandfather Kareem Ikka, who runs Ustad Hotel — it is here that he learns the ‘art of cooking’ and the humanity behind food. Writer Anjali Menon makes it clear that Faizi is a man who has been raised among women. Dulquer renders depths to his emotions, ambitions, and dreams.
Streaming on: Disney+Hotstar
If you had not swooned to DQ before, this Mani Ratnam romance will seal the deal, setting some major unrealistic expectations for a relationship. Dulquer plays Aditya, a game developer who lands in Mumbai and immediately falls in love with Nithya Menen’s Tara. And their romance unfolds in classic Mani Ratnam style too — amidst the trains. You could categorise Mani Ratnam protagonists to be soft boys, but DQ is the softest of them all. The relationship Adi and Tara share feels real mostly because of the amazing chemistry the two share. Despite an anticlimactic ending, it touches upon many contemporary themes that many in the society are still yet to come to terms with.
Streaming on: Sun NXT
It could be a classic case of art imitates life or life imitates art, but we all saw a dramatic increase in harem pants and psychedelic kurta prints after Martin Prakkat’s Charlie came out. The film follows Parvathi Thiruvothu’s Tessa, a wandering artist who flees home to escape marriage. She comes across a comic in her temporary housing and becomes introduced to Charlie. The comic follows Charlie’s misadventures and his encounter with a thief (played by Soubin Shahir), which prompts Tessa to look for him. Dulquer’s Charlie represents unwavering positivity in the face of utmost turmoil. He is a face of true altruism. Through Tessa’s eyes, we see Charlie as an urban legend of sorts, a genie who is able to guide her into finding out true desires.
Streaming on: Disney+Hotstar
Hanu Raghavapudi’s Sita Ramam is a romantic saga that reminds us of the good-old romances. The film, set in the 1980s, opens with Afreen, who has to deliver Sita Mahalakshmi’s long-lost letter from the ‘60s to Ram, a lieutenant in the Indian Army during Operation Gibraltar. The period film sees the long-distance romance between the star-crossed lovers blossom with old-school nostalgia. Sita Ramam brought DQ closer to the Telugu audiences after his riveting performance in Mahanati.
Streaming on: ManoramaMAX
With every new film that Dulquer made in the early 2010s, a new lifestyle emerged. Call it the DQ Effect or rather a generation of people in their formative years being exposed to certain films. While Charlie may have influenced people to embrace positivity, with Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvana Bhoomi, a generation of young adults gravitated towards biker culture. The road film follows the bike journey of Kasi and Suni from Kerala to Nagaland, in the hopes of discovering themselves.
And in his pursuit, Kasi (Dulquer) meets people from various walks of life including a surfer, a former-communist, and dacoits. The Motorcycle Diaries-esque journey makes Kasi question all his assumptions, be it his personality or political ideology. When it comes to playing a confused young man who is about to come of age, nobody does it better than DQ.
Streaming on: Netflix
Another entry in the slice-of-life territory is Varane Avashyamund, which follows the life of Nikki and her single mother Neena as they search for an alliance for the former. In the midst of all this, Neena catches the eye of her neighbour, a retired army officer Major Unnikrishnan, much to the dismay of Nikki. How Nikki comes to terms with her mother’s own life and finds herself a groom forms the rest of the story. DQ’s Bibeesh further brings in so much heart to the romcom, cementing his position as the perennial charmer.
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video
When we first see Dulquer in Mahanati, we see an older, angry Gemini Ganesan who is outraged against the media for reporting on his personal life with his comatose wife. This comes as a direct contrast to when we are re-introduced to a younger version of the actor in the flashback, where he is nothing but a charming on-set photographer. Nag Ashwin’s film traces actress Savitri’s rise to fame, her tumultuous relationship with Ganesan, and her eventual meteoric fall from grace. DQ plays a real-life Tamil star in his Telugu debut, bringing in so much nuance and vulnerability.
Streaming on: Netflix
In Kurup, Dulquer plays yet another real-life personality. However, this time, it is the missing fugitive Sukumara Kurup. Kurup follows the cat-and-mouse chase between the police and Kurup after he murders someone to fake his own death. Indrajith Sukumaran plays Kurup’s arch-nemesis Inspector Das. The crime caper puts you on the edge of your seat as DQ bobs and weaves every move the police make in a bid to escape. Watch the film if you are in the mood for a racy thriller.
Streaming on: Zee5
Chup follows a serial killer who targets dishonest movie critics, and DQ plays Danny, a deranged killer enraged by critics. DQ gets to channel his inner demons in a film that sees him get inside the head of a serial killer, who has only faced abuse and rejection all his life. The parallels and references to Guru Dutt’s life and cinema, as well as its commentary on the relevance of art after an artist’s death are among Chup’s highlights.
Streaming on: Netflix
What starts off as yet another feel-good film from ‘Dulquer’s Repository of Fun, Slice of Life Films’, becomes something else very quickly in Kannum Kannum Kollaiadithaal. The caper film follows two software engineers Sidharth and Kallis, who are in fact con artists selling defective laptops. The duo try to undergo a change of heart when they meet and fall for two women. Design Periyasamy’s Kannum Kannum Kollaiadithaal is a fun, heist film filled with twists, turns, and delightful double-crossings. It is extremely gratifying to see DQ in a character that is endearing yet morally grey.