Dulquer Salmaan recalls dad Mammootty’s remark on his selection of scripts: ‘You don’t have an excuse to do bad films’

Dulquer Salmaan is gearing up for the release of Kaantha, directed by debutant Selvamani Selvaraj. The period drama, centred on a superstar, marks yet another bold choice in the actor’s 13-year career. Recently, Dulquer revealed what motivates him to take risks and pursue meaningful cinema. He also recalled his father, superstar Mammootty’s wry observation that he has no justification for choosing a bad script.

In an interview with Cinema Vikatan, Dulquer said, “The security and safety my parents give me allows me to experiment with risky subjects. I have the courage to do good films due to that. Dad used to make fun of me saying that I don’t have problems like worrying about my sister’s marriage, or building a house, or any such issues back home to be worried about while making script choices. He told me that he used to have those problems.”

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The Kaantha actor added, “He said that he had to do bad films in the past as he had all these problems to take care of. But he said that I don’t have that excuse in my career. When I thought about what he said, it was correct. If I do a bad film, I really don’t have any excuse to fall back on. What reason would I say? Audiences see me as someone who comes from such a privileged background. So I think that if we keep on chasing good cinema, good cinema will come to you.”

Kaantha, also starring Samuthirakani, Bhagyashree Borse and Rana Daggubati, deals with the ego clash between a superstar and his father, a filmmaker, on the set of their film in the 1950s. The movie, bankrolled jointly by Dulquer’s Wayfarer Films and Rana’s Spirit Media, will hit screens worldwide on November 14.