Dulquer Salmaan

A business management degree from Purdue University, a job in Dubai and three months at the Barry John Acting Studio in Mumbai all came before Dulquer Salmaan faced a film camera. Born in Kochi on 28 July 1983, the son of actor Mammootty, he is an actor and producer whose work centres on Malayalam cinema, with roles in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films as well. He first appeared on screen in Second Show (2012). That same year he played Faizi in Ustad Hotel and won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South. Bangalore Days (2014), in which he played Arjun, is credited as his breakthrough, and Charlie (2015) brought him the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor. His Malayalam list also takes in Vikramadithyan, Kali, Kammatti Paadam and Kurup. In Tamil he did O Kadhal Kanmani and Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal. The Telugu films Mahanati, Sita Ramam and Lucky Baskhar became his biggest commercial releases, and the first two won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor – Telugu. He has five Filmfare Awards South in all, and appeared in Kalki 2898 AD (2024). He starred as Dan John in I'm Game (2026), which he also produced. He leads the Telugu film Aakasamlo Oka Tara as Krishna, directed by Pavan Sadineni and set for release on 20 November.