October 20, 2017
Malayalam film star Dulquer Salmaan says he does not
take his stardom and success seriously. He concentrates on delivering his best
on the movie front.
"Honestly, I do not take my stardom seriously, only
work. I know my fans love me because of my work. Yes, if they are my fans, they
will come to watch me in theatres even if the film is not so good...
"But
if I am continuously delivering bad films, no one will come to watch me. So, all
that matters is a good film," Dulquer told IANS here.
Being the son of
Malayalam superstar Mammootty, Dulquer has seen success, failure and
unpredictable nature of entertainment business quite closely.
Starting
his career with the film "Second Show", followed by "Ustad Hotel", "Njaan" and
"Charlie", he also acted in Mani Ratnam's critically and commercially successful
romance "O Kadhal Kanmani".
The actor chooses scripts he likes. Asked if
he will ever refuse a project with Mani Ratnam even if he does not like the
script, Dulquer said: "Well, 'O Kadhal Kanmani' was not the first idea that we
have discussed on and Mani Sir is always a man who is ready to discuss.
"So, yes, my parameter of choosing a script applies for everybody. I think as an
actor, if I cannot see myself in the character that I have been offered, I
cannot play the part. So I do not do a film unless convinced."
The actor
was one of the jury members of the short film section - Dimension of the 19th
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star.
He watched 17 films and said:
"These films not only show the potential of the budding filmmakers but also gave
me a perspective of Mumbai. I lived there for my acting classes for some time. I
felt the spirit of Mumbai and its energy in those films."
The Bollywood
and south Indian film industry are going through an interesting cultural
exchange.
Keeping "Baahubali" aside, which happens once in a lifetime,
in the last few years, some interesting collaborations have happened.
Dhanush acted in Hindi film "Raanjhanaa" with Sonam Kapoor and veteran actor
Kajol acted in a Dhanush starrer Tamil film "VIP2". Mani Ratnam cast Aditi Rao
Hyderi in "Kaatru Veliyidai", and another much anticipated upcoming
collaboration is between Tamil superstar Rajnikanth and Bollywood superstar
Akshay Kumar's "2.0".
Do such collaborations help to expand the business
of cinema?
Dulquer said: "I think that is the best way to celebrate the
inclusive nature of our culture, firstly. And I think this is but natural
because we are all migrating to parts of India and getting familiar with each
other's culture.
"So as a Punjabi, you must be having some south Indian
friends with whom you share films and talk on that. That is how you get a
glimpse of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu cinema."
He added: "Of course, if you
like any actor in that, you slowly start admiring him and that is how our fan
following expands. In films, we utilize that to get a greater reach. I see more
of such collaborations happen in future."