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Dulquer Salmaan
Dulquer Salmaan at Zoya Factor Trailer Launch function (cropped).jpg
Dulquer in 2019
Born (1986-07-28) 28 July 1986 (age 37)
Other names DQ, Kunjikka
Alma mater Purdue University
Occupation
  • Actor
  • Playback Singer
  • Businessman
  • Film Producer
Years active 2012–present
Organization
Spouse(s)
Amal Sufiya
(m. 2011)
Children 1
Parent(s)
Relatives Maqbool Salmaan (cousin)
Family Mammootty family
Awards Full list

Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam, Tamil in addition to Hindi and Telugu film industries. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management from Purdue University and worked as a business manager in Dubai before pursuing a career in acting. Salmaan is a recipient of four Filmfare Awards South and one Kerala State Film Award.

After a three-month acting course at the Barry John Acting Studio, Salmaan made his acting debut with Second Show (2012). He has since established himself as a leading actor in Indian cinema with several commercially and critically successful films including Ustad Hotel (2012), ABCD (2013), Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (2013), Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014), Bangalore Days (2014), Vikramadithyan (2014), O Kadhal Kanmani (2015), Charlie (2015), Kali (2016), Jomonte Suvisheshangal (2017), Mahanati (2018), Kurup (2021) and Sita Ramam (2022).

He has been recognised in the media as a fashion icon and an auto enthusiast. He owns several entrepreneurship ventures and promotes various social causes. He is also the founder of the film production company Wayfarer Films.

Early life and family

Dulquer Salmaan was born on 28 July 1986 in Kochi. He completed his primary level education at Toc-H Public School, Vyttila, Kochi and his secondary level education at Sishya School in Chennai. He has a bachelor's degree in Business Management from Purdue University and worked at an IT firm in Dubai. Later, he decided to pursue a career in acting and attended a three-month course at the Barry John Acting Studio in Mumbai. He stated in a 2012 interview that he chose acting because "somewhere down the lane, my life became monotonous and routine".

Acting career

Early years (2012–13)

Dulquar
Salmaan at the 60th Filmfare Awards South in 2013.

In 2011, Salmaan signed on for debutante Srinath Rajendran's Second Show (2012) in which he played the role of Harilal, a gangster. When asked in an interview about his "unconventional entry with a bunch of newcomers", Salmaan stated that it was his conscious decision as he felt that " ... when an actor debuts, he has to earn the right to be a hero and not get it through a shortcut route." The film received mixed reviews.

Salmaan next starred in Anwar Rasheed's Ustad Hotel (2012). The film, which received the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, was also a major success at the box office. He also won praise for his portrayal of Faizy. For his performance, Salmaan received his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. His third film was Theevram, a crime thriller directed by Roopesh Peethambaran. The film, which released in November 2012, received mixed reviews and was a box office failure.

In 2013, he signed on to appear in Martin Prakkat's comedy drama ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi in which he made his singing debut with "Johnny Mone Johnny". Both the song and the film became popular. Though the film received mixed reviews, his performance was well received by critics. Sify stated: "it is Dulquer Salmaan's show all the way and in all fairness the young actor has given his heart and soul into his character." He was also part of Amal Neerad's segment Kullante Bharya in the anthology film 5 Sundarikal (2013). Salmaan then collaborated with Sameer Thahir in Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (2013), a road movie. Salmaan starred in his "first love story", cinematographer Alagappan's romantic drama Pattam Pole (2013), which was a commercial failure.

2014–present

In 2014, Salmaan took on another romantic role in Salalah Mobiles, with Nazriya Nazim opposite him; like Pattam Pole, Salalah Mobiles could not garner much success for the actor. Salmaan's next appearance was in the Tamil-Malayalam bilingual Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014). While the Malayalam version Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram was received poorly, the Tamil version received positive reviews and became a sleeper hit. IANS said Salmaan is "a treat to watch" and added, "he earns extra brownie points for dubbing in his own voice and speaking flawless Tamil." He received his second Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for the film.

In Anjali Menon's ensemble romantic comedy drama Bangalore Days (2014), Salmaan played Arjun with Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim as his cousins. The film received positive reviews and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time, grossing around 500 million (US$8.5 million). Later that year, he co-starred with Unni Mukundan in Lal Jose's Vikramadithyan. He then performed in what he called his "most challenging film yet" in Renjith's Njaan (2014). His performance received favourable reviews and earned him several accolades, including a second Best Actor nomination at Filmfare.

In 2015, he acted opposite Nithya Menen in two films—Jenuse Mohamed's romantic comedy 100 Days of Love, and Mani Ratnam's Tamil romantic drama O Kadhal Kanmani. About Salmaan's performance, The Hindu's critic Baradwaj Rangan wrote: "Dulquer Salmaan checks off all boxes in the Can You Be The Next Madhavan? questionnaire", though he believed the film belonged primarily to Menen. Salmaan next played the titular character in Martin Prakkat's Charlie (2015). The film received eight Kerala State Film Awards, with Salmaan receiving his first Best Actor Award. He also received a third Best Actor nomination at Filmfare.

Salmaan reunited with Sameer Thahir for his first release in 2016, Kali co-starring Sai Pallavi. When released, the film earned the highest opening day box office gross for a Malayalam film. He then starred in Rajeev Ravi's action drama Kammatipaadam (2016). The film garnered critical acclaim and became his third consecutive financial success in two years.

He then appeared in Sathyan Anthikad's family drama Jomonte Suvisheshangal (2017). Despite comparisons with 2016 Malayalam drama Jacobinte Swargarajyam, the film did well commercially. His next appearance was in Amal Neerad's action-adventure film Comrade in America (2017). The Hindu called it "Dulquer's big hit of 2017". He then portrayed four roles in the Malayalam-Tamil bilingual anthology Solo (2017) directed by Bejoy Nambiar. The film was critically panned and "faced immense backlash from the audience" He next featured in the Telugu film Mahanati, a biopic on actress Savitri. His Telugu debut, the film opened to positive reviews from critics and enjoyed commercial success at the box office. Salmaan's portrayal of Gemini Ganesan was also acclaimed. Later that year, Salmaan made his Hindi film debut with Karwaan. Though the film received "mixed response", Salmaan's performance was appreciated.

In 2019, he starred in Oru Yamandan Premakadha a Malayalam romantic comedy film directed by B. C. Noufal. After Karwaan, Salmaan's next Bollywood movie The Zoya Factor released in September 2019. Abhishek Sharma's film adaptation of Anuja Chauhan's novel The Zoya Factor did not perform well at the box-office but Salmaan's performance was appreciated. The Times of India stated: "From being playful to intense, Dulquer steals the show as he is absolutely brilliant in his portrayal".

Salmaan's 2020 projects included the Tamil film Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal.

In 2020, his production company Wayfarer films was launched. His first released project as a producer and actor was family drama Varane Avashyamund where he co-starred alongside Suresh Gopi, Shobana and Kalyani Priyadarshan. The film hit the screens in 2020 and garnered positive reviews.

Other project of him as a producer is Shamzu Zayba's romantic-comedy Maniyarayile Ashokan which is produced through his production company Wayfarer Films, and starring Jacob Gregory and Anupama Parameswaran. He starred in the 2021 crime-thriller Kurup in which he played the titular role of Sukumara Kurup, also marks his third production venture which has become the highest grossing Malayalam film in 2021 and highest-grossing film of his career.

In March 2022, his film Salute was released in SonyLIV. His Telugu-language period romantic film Sita Ramam, released in August 2022, became commercially successful. Though he is a Malayali, he dubbed in all the languages in which the movie was released, bagging appreciation from many. He began to be known as pan-Indian actor since this period. Mrunal Thakur played the role of Sita in this movie. His Bollywood Psychological Crime Thriller Chup: Revenge of the Artist hit theatres in September 2022. His upcoming projects include Guns&Gulaabs,a Netflix series and King of Kotha.

Personal life and off-screen work

On 22 December 2011, he married architect Amal Sufiya in an arranged marriage. Amal comes from a North Indian Muslim family settled in Chennai. The couple has a daughter born in May 2017.

He has acted in a short film as part of the Kerala motor vehicle department's safe riding campaign. He donated 150 items, including clothing, shoes, books, school supplies and crockery items, as a part of the Chennai Gives initiative. In addition, he used to run a web portal for trading cars, and a dental business chain in Chennai. He also is the director of the Bangalore-based Motherhood Hospital.

In the media

Dulquer Salmaan was ranked fourth by GQ in their listing of the 50 most influential young Indians of 2016. He was also featured by GQ in their listing of the Best Dressed Men India 2016. He was selected as the "Most Desirable Man" in 2013 and 2014 by Kochi Times, subsidiary of The Times Group. In 2019, Salmaan became the first actor from Kerala to get featured on the October edition cover of Vogue India.

Filmography

As an actor

Key
Films that have not yet been released Denotes films that have not yet been released
List of films and roles
Year Title Role Language Notes Ref.
2012 Second Show Harilal "Lalu" Malayalam
Ustaad Hotel Faizal "Faizy" Abdul Razak
Theevram Harsha Vardhan
2013 ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi Jones Isaac
5 Sundarikal Injured stuntman
Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi Kassi
Pattam Pole Karthikeyan "Karthi"
2014 Salalah Mobiles Afzal
Vaayai Moodi Pesavum / Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram Aravind Bilingual film
Tamil / Malayalam
Bangalore Days Arjun "Aju" Malayalam
Vikramadithyan Adithyan Menon
Njaan K. T. N. Kottoor & Ravi Chandrasekhar Dual role
2015 100 Days of Love Balan K. Nair & Rocky K. Nair
O Kadhal Kanmani Aditya "Aadhi" Varadarajan Tamil
Charlie Charlie Malayalam
2016 Kali Siddharth
Kammatipaadam Krishnan
Annmariya Kalippilaanu Angel Cameo appearance
2017 Jomonte Suvisheshangal Jomon T. Vincent
Comrade in America Aji "Ajipan" Mathew
Parava Imran
Solo Shekhar, Trilok, Siva & Rudra Ramachandran Bilingual film ; Quadruple role
Malayalam / Tamil
2018 Mahanati Gemini Ganesan Telugu
Karwaan Avinash Rajpurohit Hindi
2019 Oru Yamandan Premakadha Lallu (Mohanlal John Kombanayil) Malayalam
The Zoya Factor Nikhil Khoda Hindi
2020 Varane Avashyamund Bibeesh P. Malayalam Also producer
Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal Siddharth Tamil
Maniyarayile Ashokan Arjun Malayalam Also producer; Cameo appearance
2021 Kurup Gopikrishnan aka (Sudhakara Kurup / Alexander) Also producer
2022 Hey Sinamika Yaazhan Tamil
Salute Aravind Karunakaran Malayalam Also producer
Sita Ramam Lieutenant Ram Telugu
Chup: Revenge of the Artist Danny/Sebastian Gomes Hindi
2023 King of Kotha Films that have not yet been released 0TBA Malayalam Filming; Also Producer

Web series

Year Title Role Language Platform Notes Ref.
2023 Guns & Gulaabs Not yet released 0TBA Hindi Netflix India Completed

Other roles

Year Title Role Ref.
2014 Koothara Trailer Narrator
2016 Mudhugauv Narrator
2017 Pokkiri Simon
2019 Margamkali Baby (voice)
2020 Maniyarayile Ashokan Narrator
2021 Maara Voice-over in trailer
2022 Upacharapoorvam Gunda Jayan Distributor
2022 Puzhu Distributor
2022 Pyali Co-producer; Distributor
2022 Rorschach Distributor

Discography

List of songs
Year Album Song / Voice Ref.
2013 ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi "Johny Mone Johny"
2014 Manglish "Njanga Poneanutta"
2015 Charlie "Chundari Penne"
2017 Comrade in America "Vaanam Thilathilakkanu"
"Kerala Manninayi"
Parava "Ormakal"
2018 Kalyanam "Dhrithangapulakithan"
Malayala Manorama AD "Puthu Malayalam"
2019 Dear Comrade "Comrade Anthem" (Malayalam Version)
Sarbath Kadha "Sarbath Anthem" Short film
2020 Maniyarayile Ashokan "Unnimaya Song"
2021 Kurup "Dingiri Dingale"
2022 Hey Sinamika "Achamillai Achamillai" Tamil song

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations
Year Award Category Film Result Ref.
2012 Asiavision Awards Best Newcomer Second Show Won
2013 Asianet Film Awards Best New Face (Male) Won
Vanitha Film Awards Won
Best Star Pair Ustad Hotel Won
Filmfare Awards South Best Actor – Malayalam Won
Best Male Debut – South Second Show Won
South Indian International Movie Awards Best Debut (Male) Won
Asiavision Awards Performer of the Year Various Won
2014 Asianet Film Awards Star of the Year Won
Asiavision Awards Performer of The Year Bangalore Days, Vikramadithyan Won
2015 Asianet Film Awards Star of the Year Won
Filmfare Awards South Best Actor – Malayalam Njaan Won
Best Debut (Male) Vaayai Moodi Pesavum Won
South Indian International Movie Awards Nominated
Best Actor Njaan Nominated
Vanitha Film Awards Best Star Pair Vikramadithyan Won
Vijay Awards Best Debut (Male) Vaayai Moodi Pesavum Won
Vikatan Awards Won
2016 Asianet Film Awards Most Popular Actor Charlie Won
Filmfare Awards South Best Actor – Malayalam Nominated
Kerala State Film Awards Best Actor Won
South Indian International Movie Awards Best Actor Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer Nominated
2017 Asianet Film Awards Best Actor (Critics) Kammatipaadam, Kali Won
2nd IIFA Utsavam Best Actor Charlie Won
Best Male Playback Singer Nominated
64th Filmfare Awards South Best Actor (Critics) Kali, Kammatipaadam Won
South Indian International Movie Awards Best Actor Kammatipaadam Nominated
Asiavision Awards Solo, Comrade in America, Parava Won
2018 Asianet Film Awards Golden Star Solo, Jomonte Suvisheshangal, Parava Won
Vanitha Film Awards Popular Actor Solo, Jomonte Suvisheshangal, Parava, Comrade in America Won
2019 South Indian International Movie Awards Best Actor – Telugu Mahanati Nominated
Filmfare Awards South Best Actor – Telugu Nominated
Best Actor (Critics) – Telugu Won
2021 South Indian International Movie Awards Best Actor Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal Nominated
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