We are sure rising Malayalam super star Dulquer Salmaan had a peaceful vacation in Colombo as many in Sri Lanka, unless you are a die-hard Kerala film fan, would hardly recognize the young actor who is the son of mega star Mammootty.
Malayalam films are not very popular in the island and the only place you can watch one is an occasional international film festival or the ones organized by the Indian High Commission but those will be limited to award winning varieties directed by acclaimed filmmakers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
True, Dulquer is a star kid but he is in films not merely because of his star DNA. The kid has loads of talent. He made his acting debut in the 2012 at the age of 26 winning the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.
He may be very familiar to Sri Lankan Tamil film fans. After the commercial success of the comedy ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi (2013) and the romantic drama Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (2013), Salmaan appeared in the Tamil film Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014). They were followed by Bangalore Days (2014), which ranks among the highest-grossing Malayalam films and Mani Ratnam’s critical and commercial hit O Kadhal Kanmani (2014). He won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for Charlie in 2015.
The first thing he did in Sri Lanka was to hit the Ministry of Crab, very popular restaurant run by two of the world’s well known cricket players, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
In a picture, Dulquer is seen along with friends, donning the apron with the restaurant’s slogan ‘Keep Calm and Crab on’. Wonder where Mahela and Kumar were when a celebrity from the other side of the Palk Strait was tasting their tasty crab!
When we contacted a Sri Lankan film artiste he said Malayalam films are not popular in the island and did not know two of the greatest super stars in Malayalam cinema today: Mammootty, Dulquer’s dad, and Mohanlal.
He added that a film crew from Kerala came to Sri Lanka last year to shoot a film about a bandit who lived in the southern state in 18th or 19th century. They scouted for locations but the project did not take off. Their main complain was most of the scenic places they were interested in, had things like lamp posts, busy roads and electricity pylons.
A Sri Lankan girl who seems to know the young celebrity says in the actor’s Facebook page “Ooooh can’t believe…welcome to sri lanka dulquer.”
Bad news for girls is Dulquer who has killer looks tied the knot through an arranged marriage to Amal Sufiya in 2011 before his debut hit the screen. He is a father of an adorable daughter. Dulquer’s next Tamil film will be Kannum Kannum Kollai Aditha pairing with Ritu Varma. He is also making his Bollywood debut in Karwaan starring Irrfan and Mithila Palkar. © newstrails.com
