Dulquer Salmaan opens up about his decision to share Lokah profits with the team; director reveals it was planned as independent movie

Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra producer Dulquer Salmaan also made it clear what he actually meant by "sharing profits".

Kochi | September 16, 2025 12:35 PM IST

4 min read

Dulquer Salmaan opens up about his decision to share the profits of Lokah: Chapter 1 - Chandra with the film's team. Revealing how and why he reached it, the actor-producer also made it clear what he actually meant by it.

The Kalyani Priyadarshan-led Lokah: Chapter 1 - Chandra was bankrolled by Dulquer Salmaan under the banner of his Wayfarer Films. (Credit: Facebook/@DQSalmaan, @DQsWayfarerfilms)

While his movie was soaring to greater heights, having already emerged as the Onam season winner, actor-turned-producer Dulquer Salmaan made an astonishing announcement earlier this month. Talking to the media in Chennai, he stated that he wishes to share the profits of the Kalyani Priyadarshan-led Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra, which he bankrolled under the banner of his Wayfarer Films, with the film’s team, as he feels they totally deserve it. The superhero film has reportedly grossed Rs 252.9 crore globally thus far.

In a recent conversation, he elaborated on his decision and shared how and why he reached it, while also making it clear what he actually meant by it. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do. When films do extremely well, people should be rewarded. Also, I like my key HODs being stakeholders in the movie. So, Dominic Arun (the director) and others are all stakeholders. I feel that then it becomes their own film. There, I can step back a little on micromanagement because they also care about the film’s cost. Everyone’s investing. I believe this works well,” he shared during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India.

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“For the company, it’ll be great if we have a bit of a war chest and not have an interest burden. Then we can invest in our own films. That is obviously the goal,” Dulquer added, emphasising that he didn’t mean he would split the entire earnings from Lokah and then start from scratch again, particularly while they have four more films to create as part of the planned franchise. “But I do believe in them (the team) being invested in the film. I think that’s a great model.”

Meanwhile, director Dominic Arun shared how their initial plan to make an independent superhero film eventually evolved into the Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra, which continues its successful run at the box office, despite being in its third week in theatres, and has its sights firmly set on the title of the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. “Initially, we planned this as a small-budgeted, independent superhero actioner. When Nimish (cinematographer Nimish Ravi) and I went to Dulquer and shared the idea with him, he said that we could make it a bigger film. He suggested, ‘Let it be a bigger film. Don’t bother that it’s a female-centric film.’ If you ask me, yes, I want to make a big film that’s visually appealing. But considering the industry standards and since it’s a female-centric film, we thought, we’ll work within our constraints and do what we can do best,” he said.

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Dominic added, “But Dulquer opened up our minds so that we could visualise it a little more ambitiously. Even though he kept saying ‘don’t care about the money,’ we knew that we had to ensure he got back his money. That pressure has always been there and that’s what kept us going.”

Also starring Naslen, Sandy Master, Arun Kurian and Chandu Salimkumar in key roles, Lokah has so far earned Rs 122.34 crore (nett) domestically. On Monday, marking its 19th day in theatres, the superhero film registered an India nett collection of Rs 2.75 crore, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. By crossing the Rs 250 crore mark globally, Lokah has become only the second-ever Malayalam film to achieve this milestone.

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