I love to surprise the audience with roles that show the unknown side of me: Dulquer Salmaan

Starring the legendary Irfaan Khan, internet sensation, Mithila Palkar, and the ‘angry, young, Malayali’ actor and Bollywood debutant, Dulquer Salmaan, Karawaan revolves around the journey of three unlikely companions who happen to set out on an unusual road-trip.
The movie’s trailer begins with an eerily clinical voice on the telephone informing Avinash (Dulquer), an IT guy from Bangalore who hates his job, about his father’s demise in Kochi; it was as though someone was informing him about a bill that’s overdue! When Avinash realises that the body that was sent to him was not his father’s, things start getting into motion.Avinash and his eccentric friend Shaukat (Irfaan) set out on a road-trip to find the body, and meet Tanya (Mithila), a teenager, on the way. Though the three of them do not necessarily get along, the road-trip allegorises the internal journeys of the characters, says director Akarsh Khurana.
Such an interesting plot deserves a deeper dig into the characters and their real lives. Lucky for you, we caught Dulquer, Mithila and Akarsh, living it up in Hyderabad and had the most amazing conversation with them. Excerpts.
You’ve already done over 25 movies in Malayalam now and have entered the Tamil and Telugu industries as well. This is your first movie in Bollywood. How’s the journey been going so far? And most importantly, how has the Malayali reacted to your moving out of comfort-zone?
Dulquer: Every industry is different. It’s like travelling. You get to know the cultures and stories of people who’ve grown up in different parts of the country. Those are the things that I’ve enjoyed about this experience. In Bollywood, the promotional blitz is crazy, compared to Malayalam and Tamil. I think I’ve almost had 10 days of promotional activities, which I’m not familiar with at all. The making itself was awesome, because it’s very structured and systematic. That whole Western Studio culture can be seen in Bollywood. Everybody is familiar with the script; everybody knows what they are shooting the next day, what the back-up plan is, and so on. It’s there in Malayalam and Tamil among the older film-makers. They have a whole system in place because they had been shooting with films. With digitisation, the younger filmmakers take their own time. This is super-efficient in that sense. We shot the whole film in 34 days.
The Malayali is happy. They think I shouldn’t stay away for too long, but they like me doing films in other languages and hope that I do well in them. And they like the fact that I’m speaking the language well; they’re happy about it. And they look at it as somebody from Malayalam being recognised. So it’s a good thing. It’s been very positive.
Mithila, your sister is a scientist and you’ve chosen acting. These are two distinct and, often, mutually exclusive professions in our country. How did you stumble upon acting? Did that give your family quite a shock?
Mithila: I was 12 when I first went on stage. The best part about our school was that we did a lot of extra-curricular activities. We had debate groups, choir groups, drama teams and so on. I was part of all of these. And when I went on stage for the first time, I realised that was it; that was what I wanted to do. Of course, nobody takes a 12 year-old seriously. I also forgot about it but, it later found me. I was never shy on stage. The stage is probably the only place I was not shy. Stage was like my home.
I come from a middle-class Marathi family. You can imagine how protective my folks were. To top that, I was living with my maternal grandparents. My parents were always supportive. The tricky part was to convince my grandparents. I wanted them to show support, I didn’t want to be so rebellious that I lie to them. I wanted to try the cleaner way first. Finally, my grandfather came around. He understood that this is what I was passionate about. And I guess I won that fight.
In Malayalam, you’ve played quite a lot of masculine/ ‘angry young man’ roles. Avinash seems like a geeky guy. How was it like playing him? How well does he fit your personality?
Dulquer: I’m sure all my roles have some traces of me in them. And I’m quite lucky that I have this job to explore all of them; the different aspects of my personality. When I was in high school, I had a bit of a temper. I realised I was very unpopular because I kept getting angry. I realised that I could also learn to control it. Over the years I’ve learnt to become very patient. When I was offered Kali (a 2016 Malayalam film), I was wondering how I’d be able to do that role. I had to act as a guy who has a severe temperament. I told the director that I’ve forgotten how to become angry. I wasn’t sure if could look angry convincingly. But for actors, I think it’s better to have characters that move away from themselves. I have to surprise the audience. Convincing them is my greatest victory.
Avinash is close to my heart. Through him, I’ve been able to explore a part of me that I’d forgotten. It was actually very liberating to play him.
Mithila, you became an Internet sensation through your web-series, Little Things, in which you come off as someone who’s quite relatable to many urban, middle-class girls your age. How different was it to play Tanya?
Mithila: The best part about acting is that you can explore different personalities of yourself. You can either relate to them or not. What I find most endearing is that we can then be receptive to a lot of different perspectives. Tanya is somebody I don’t relate to at all. In real life, I’m very different from her. She’s has a practical and happy-golucky approach to life. I’m the overthinker. I’m very emotional and oldschool. And that’s probably why I liked playing her. It was very interesting because the way she deals with things is a lot different from how I deal with life.
What was it like working with Irrfan Khan, a brilliant actor, who’s got an amazing national and international presence?
Dulquer: Just amazing. I’ve always loved his personality. I don’t think there’s anyone like him. He’s so unique. The characters he plays, the way he modulates his lines, it’s almost like he’s singing. Shaukat is the most interesting character in the script. He’s the most eccentric and colourful. And I could just see Irfaan pulling it off amazingly. He’s just a great person, and has got a lovely energy.
Mithila: It was surreal. I have no words to explain what it was like to work with someone like him. I’ve grown up watching him and to share that space with him was a really big deal for me. It was a privilege working with him. There is Irrfan Khan on one hand and Dulquer Salmaan on the other. And I was like a child thrown into Disneyland. Every day was a learning experience; it was a school I loved going to.