Dulquer Salmaan – the actor who can’t be fit into a box

Tracing the journey of a man who won hearts as Lieutenant Ram, serial killer Danny, and of course, paving his way into hearts as the King Of Kotha.

By Soumya Anantharaman -

August 26, 2023 - 4:46 PM IST

Although every actor boasts of their versatile nature of being a chameleon to easily blend into roles, there are some who have proved it with their filmography. Even today, while audiences often associate a star’s name with a certain kind of genre as we frequently use phrases like ‘no one can romance like Shah Rukh Khan’, can anyone point out what comes to mind when we say the name of the actor Dulquer Salmaan’? Let us try some examples – are you thinking of Faizal from Ustaad Hotel or Arjun from Bangalore Days or Aditya from O Kadhal Kanmani or Lieutenant Ram from Sita Ramam or the serial killer Danny from Chup? Well, the answers would be different for everyone and do we know why?

Dulquer Salmaan – the actor who can’t be fit into a box

As a fan of this Malayalam superstar once said, ‘Dulquer cannot be fit into a box’ and there is a reason for it! While stars have to often talk about how each of their roles are different from the other, a Dulquer fan can easily point out the distinction between his roles even if the actor doesn’t speak about it. In fact, if we take you back to his 2017 experimental drama Solo directed by Bejoy Nambiar, it featured the actor switching between four characters, which were so different from each other, that it felt like we are watching four different actors in one film itself. And that’s how Salmaan made his way to people’s hearts!

A Yazhan, who ends up wearing a ghagra at his wife’s office party to an Arjun who cannot handle the loneliness because of his dysfunctional family, to a Charlie, who will make you fall in love by only reading about him, Dulquer Salmaan blends into these roles effortlessly. Is his experiment always successful? No, obviously. Because everybody faces success and failures in their careers. But has Salmaan refrained from choosing these roles? No! In fact, even if you look at his Hindi repertoire, which is possibly the shortest one, whether it is his role in The Zoya Factor, Karwaan, or even Chup, they continue to be set in a completely different backdrop, with the characters being world apart.

Dulquer Salmaan’s fans don’t love him only for his versatility but because he makes them resonate with each of his character. When audiences view him on the big screen, they don’t take back memories of Salmaan but they take back memories of these characters that Salmaan plays, and they can assure you that no one else could have done a better job. Dulquer could be a cop just as easily as he can be a gangster. He could be a serial killer or the boy next door you want to fall in love with. Salmaan makes you believe in him and his character. He makes you laugh and cry not just because he makes the character his own but because he makes the audience his own too!

Also Read: Dulquer Salmaan speaks out on Rana Daggubati’s controversial statement: “I believe whatever he chose to say…”