'What's beautiful now about India is that we are discovering so much more about each other, our stories and micro culture.'
Dulquer Salmaan feels the coronavirus pandemic and the OTT boom has pushed the Malayalam movie industry to produce big scale spectacle films.
The actor stars as an alcoholic gangster in the period drama King of Kotha.
"Post COVID-19 and the advent of OTT, now if you want to draw people to theatres, you have to offer a theatrical experience. There has to be some kind of spectacle, people need that value for money, they need that entertainment on a larger scale," Dulquer says at a press conference to promote his new film, directed by debutant film-maker Abhilash Joshiy.
"The Malayalam industry has always been very budget focused. We are a bit wary of going bigger, but in the lockdown, when people watched our cinema, it made us familiar across the country. Now, we have a lot more courage to push ourselves,"
Dulquer clarifies exactly what 'Kotha' means in this video.
King of Kotha is Dulquer's first major release as an action hero.
The actor is producing the film himself, and adds that this is the most expensive project of his career.
"With this film, we have pushed as much as we could. In terms of budget and scale, we went all out," he says.
"It's my most expensive film to date. It's the biggest film we have produced as a company."
"What's beautiful now about India is that we are discovering so much more about each other, our stories and micro culture, like Kantara had the beauty of that region which people from the North were not familiar with. I love that we are telling rooted stories."
His goal, he says here, is to make it a spectacle film.
Speaking of the comparisons between King of Kotha and the Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa: The Rise, Dulquer said both movies are different and that he takes this as a compliment.
"There's no influence as such. I love him (Allu Arjun) as an actor and a performer. But this film (King of Kotha) has been with us since 2019. The character sketch was put in place three years ago. So basically, we had this film in our mind. I've heard this and in some ways it's a compliment, we are not trying to imitate or copy, but I hope it does what Pushpa did," he says.
He shares more about Pushpa here.
Dulquer is happy to have two back-to-back releases -- the Netflix series Guns and Gulaabs, streams from August 18, and King of Kotha, releases in theatres on August 24.
Dulquer says he usually doesn't prefer watching his work post its release and adds that his aim is only to be honest to his craft in whichever language he acts.
"This is the first time I'm watching this trailer on the big screen, and I'm like, 'Am I doing well?' My intent is to keep doing well and convince you guys that I'm this character and perform the role to the best of my ability.
"It's been 11 years and I'm used to seeing myself on screen. After some time when you watch your work you think, 'This scene could have been approached differently,' this is what most actors feel... It comes from the passion for our work," he says.
Dulquer is quite different from his superstar father Mammootty, and he tells us why.
Reportage: PTI
