Can't survive as a romantic hero in the next decade: Dulquer Salmaan

MUMBAI: Actor Dulquer Salmaan believes he needs to grow beyond the "romantic hero" image and let the maturity he has attained with age reflect in his choice of roles.

Dulquer has starred in romance dramas such as Mani Ratnam's Tamil hit "OK Kanmani" and "Sita Ramam" (Telugu) and "The Zoya Factor" in Hindi in his career of over ten years.

The actor, who turned 37 last month, said in the next decade of his life he would like to explore action as a genre.

"I have realised that, (in) this next decade of my life I can't survive as a romantic hero. I am turning 40 now, it is time to kick a**. I don't want to be boxed into any genre or anything. I want to keep pushing myself and anything that scares me is where I want to be," Dulquer told PTI in an interview.

His upcoming Malayalam film "King on Kotha", in which he plays an alcoholic gangster, is his first major release as an action hero. Dulquer said the Abhilash Joshiy-directed movie will be a surprise for the audience.

"I have never been known to do action, it is very difficult. There are four-five fights in this movie, but it is also interesting to be in that zone in terms of look and character," he added.

The actor, son of Malayalam cinema veteran Mammootty, is making his streaming debut with Netflix series "Guns & Gulaabs" from "The Family Man" duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK. The series premieres on Netflix on August 18.

Dulquer said it was an instant yes for him when he was offered the show as he wanted to work with Raj & DK and explore the long format of storytelling.

"I love Raj & DK's work and the stuff they do. Also, I have been curious about series format as an actor, in long format you explore the characters more in detail. I just wanted to understand it."

The 1990s set Hindi series follows the story of a lovestruck mechanic Paana Tipu (Rajkummar), a reluctant heir to a ruling gang Chhota Ganchi (Adarsh Gourav), an honest officer-turned-agent-of-chaos Arjun Verma (Dulquer), and a killer called 4-cut Atmaram (Gulshan Devaiah).

He said he loved the world of "Guns & Gulaabs" and it's unpredictable characters.

"I didn't realise how absurd all this was going to be until we started shooting. The role of Arjun is interesting because he gives an outsider perspective into Gulabganj. I'm playing someone older, he has a family, has a grown-up daughter, he is romantic, he loves film music, at the same time he has got this mystery about it. All the characters are unpredictable. There are twists and turns. So, it was an instant yes," he said.

Filming the series was a trip down memory lane for Dulquer, who calls the 1990s the most "impressionable" decade in his life.

"The 90s era is still fresh in our minds. So, that familiarity helped (with the show). Like, if anything we were doing on set seemed current or today, like we have it in ourselves. We all know that so well," he said.

"Guns & Gulaabs" also features TJ Bhanu, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Pooja A Gor and the late Satish Kaushik.