When Dulquer Salmaan addressed fan fights, nepotism and the importance of supporting each other in cinema

It’s not easy for an actor to win the hearts of fans in Malayalam cinema, much less the Indian film industry. But Dulquer Salmaan is one of the few who has done that, and that too effortlessly. The secret though stems from him being aware of himself, what being genuine can do and how supporting each other can only do good eventually.

As the Sita Ramam actor turns 36 today, we thought it would be a good opportunity to highlight the actor’s stance spreading negativity on social media, which seems to be rampant these days with fans of superstars trying to pull each other’s movies down at a time when film industries are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay earlier this year, Dulquer talked about how prepared he was for the lows and pitfalls of cinema when he made his debut with Srinath Rajendran’s Second Show a decade ago.

The actor admitted that at the end of the day he has the advantages of being a star kid but that also came with “a big group of people who are trying to bring me down – for whatever rivalries or who my dad is”. “End of the day, I feel cinema is like a sport. Just like you have your favourite teams, you have your favourite stars. That’s how I have learnt to see it. Anytime any actor does well in my peer group, I will probably be attacked or put down for some reason. It’s something that I have always faced and will continue to face,” he said.

Dulquer remarked that it does bother him, but he tries to focus on the task at hand and look ahead rather than dwell in the negativity. This is also a reason why he makes a conscious effort to support every film. “I wish that at least internally, within the industry, we keep it as a fraternity and a family and we root for each other. I genuinely want to be happy for every film that does well,” the Kurup actor said.

The actor said that he’s not one of those actors who would rejoice at someone else’s failure because he is fully aware of the painstaking effort and time that goes into making a movie. “I feel like putting the energy out there would in time cleanse the negative energy,” he said.

His positive way of looking at life and cinema has won him a horde of admirers in every industry he has worked – be it Tamil, Telugu, Hindi or Malayalam. And that’s no mean feat. The love that the actor has been receiving for his upcoming movie Sita Ramam, which is set to release in theatres on August 5, is proof enough.

The movie, which is helmed by Hanu Raghavapudi and also has Mrunal Thakur and Rashmika Mandanna, will be released in all three South languages and Dulquer also hinted that it could be his last love story. Do you need any more reasons to catch it in theatres?