The actor, who has been gathering hordes of fans outside Kerala, on shaking off the tag of ‘Mammootty’s son’, why it’s easier to do non-Malayalam films, the importance of self-care, and more…
Edited excerpts:
At the start of the career, inevitably, you had the tag of Mammootty’s son. At what point in your professional life did you feel you shook off that tag and people started seeing you as Dulquer?
It’s difficult to gauge because there’s always a certain group of people who will not allow me to shake off that tag. It’s probably their agenda or something. So even if I do well in Tamil or Telugu and that audience gives me some love, these groups attack me there. I mean, I’m from your state. Why would you not want another section of the audience to like me? Since that’s always been there, even when I got this love and acceptance, I almost wouldn’t allow myself to enjoy that because I kept focusing on that. It’s a bad habit; it’s not healthy, and not good for my mental health. I sometimes think I have this urge to keep working in other languages because this tag is less there. I’m very much known as me over there. I read the tweet the other day that said, “What the hell! He is Mr. Mammootty’s son.” I was like, “Thank you!” Somebody out there knew me for me. That’s beautiful. I mean, I’m a fiercely proud son of my father but I also don’t even want it to seem like this has been easy for me or I don’t care about this.
I’m sure you’re aware of your strengths and weaknesses in front of the camera. Do you use them to choose projects or do you actively go and say, ‘This is going to test me. Let me plunge in and see what happens?’
Facing your fears is really the way to unlock yourself in some way. Acting scared me, I took that plunge. Venturing into different languages used to scare me too, especially Telugu, which was completely alien. I never had that exposure there. It might look easy. Maybe it’s in the same zone — a romantic film or being charming, or whatever it is that they say I do. But there are things that make me feel like I’m challenging myself. I’m also very aware that I want to entertain the audience, and that’s also a bit of responsibility. I want them to see my film as widely as possible.
Is self-love necessary for an actor?
I think it’s necessary for all human beings. I think we are so harsh on ourselves. I remember when I was in school, there was this basic exercise where the teachers put out a white sheet of cloth, placed a black dot on it, and asked, ‘What do you see?’ I say I see a black dot. So, instead of looking at the white, we all look at our defects. I, for one, am so overly critical. I’m never happy with anything I do. I look at my performances and think I should try harder or better…Â Â
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