Hyderabad has a great character: Dulquer Salmaan

Dulquer Salmaan talks about the city, friends in the Telugu film industry and his upcoming release, Kanulu Kanulanu Dochayante.

Update: 2020-02-27 18:30 GMT
Dulquer Salmaan

Dulquer Salmaan was in Hyderabad on Thursday to promote his Friday release, Kanulu Kanulanu Dochayante. His enticing personality and an endearing smile makes him a charmer right from the word go. But what wins our heart is the moment he talks about how when visiting Hyderabad, he feels like he in a very familiar place. “I keep visiting Hyderabad often for work. It is a city with a great character, and the warmth I share for this city is something close to what I feel for Kerala,” explains the Mahanati star. “I have read and heard about many historical locations about Hyderabad. Unfortunately, most of the times I am here, I do not get time to explore the city.”

But in the same breath he adds that as he is about to sign a Telugu film, perhaps it’s a great opportunity to explore the landscape.

“I have fond memories of the city from the time I shot for Mahanati. In fact, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the city is the Haleem. I remember the great food I had during Ramzan a couple of years back,” adds the Oru Yamandan Premakadha star.

Dulquer then tells us about some of the good friends he has in the Telugu film industry, including Rana Daggubati, Akhil Akkineni, Naga Chaitanya and Ram Charan. “Whenever I come to the city, they are kind enough to host a hospitable dinner for me. In fact, we keep catching up with each other whenever possible,” explains Dulquer.

The Telugu connection

Talking about picking up Telugu, he says, “I love the language so much, I had even dubbed my lines in Telugu for Mahanti.”

While he debuted in Telugu with Mahanati (2018), his father, the Malayalam superstar Mammootty, also made his Telugu comeback with last year’s Yatra.

But when we broach up the topic of when our audiences can see the father – son duo sharing screen, Dulquer simply smiles and says, “Not anytime soon.”

Then after a moment of pause, with an impish look in his eyes, he adds, “I would love to work with him, but he’s not showing any interest. He feels that both of us have different identities, so perhaps, sharing screen together may not be the right idea. But let’s see.”

His boyish good looks apart, what sets Dulquer apart from the rest of his contemporaries is his uncanny knack of picking up unconventional scripts.

“Shouldn’t the story be the hero?” he asks back when we point out the above. “I’ve always wanted to break out from the stereotypes — be it in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil or Malayalam. I want to surprise the audience every time they come to the theatres. And I’m thankful to the audience for their warm acceptance.”

And it seems that is what drew him to Kanulu Kanulanu Dochayante, a bilingual, directed by Desingh Periyasamy. Describing the film as a racy romantic thriller, the Solo actor says, “It’s the screenplay that will keep the audience glued to the screens.”

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