Dulquer Salmaan

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Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1983) is an Indian actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam films, along with a number of Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. The son of the actor Mammootty, he is one of the highest-paid actors in Malayalam cinema. His highest-grossing films have come in Telugu: Mahanati (2018), Sita Ramam (2022) and Lucky Baskhar (2024). His awards include five Filmfare Awards South, a Kerala State Film Award and a Telangana Gaddar Film Award.

Early life

Salmaan was born in Kochi to Mammootty and his wife Sulfath, and has an elder sister, Surumi. He went to school at Toc-H Public School in Kochi and Sishya School in Chennai, then earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Purdue University and worked for an IT firm in Dubai. When he decided to act, he took a three-month course at the Barry John Acting Studio in Mumbai.

Debut

He chose to begin his career alongside a group of newcomers in Srinath Rajendran’s crime film Second Show (2012), playing a gangster, saying later that an actor should earn the right to be a hero rather than take a shortcut. The film was a commercial success. Later that year he played Faizy, a budding chef, in Anwar Rasheed’s Ustad Hotel, opposite Nithya Menen. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and was a major hit, and brought him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – Malayalam. In ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi (2013) he also made his singing debut.

Becoming a leading actor

The Tamil-Malayalam bilingual Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014) failed in Malayalam but became a sleeper hit in Tamil, where he was praised for dubbing his own lines, and it won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – Tamil. His breakthrough came with Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days (2014), in which he played a biker, Arjun; according to the source it grossed around ₹500 million and became one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films. He consolidated his place with Vikramadithyan (2014), Charlie (2015), which won him the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor, Kali and Kammatti Paadam (both 2016), Jomonte Suvisheshangal (2017) and Kurup (2021).

Tamil films

In Mani Ratnam’s O Kadhal Kanmani (2015), again opposite Nithya Menen, he played a video game developer, and critics noted how comfortable he was speaking Tamil. The film was a box-office success, as was Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal (2020).

Telugu films

He made his Telugu debut in Nag Ashwin‘s Mahanati (2018), playing the actor Gemini Ganesan opposite Keerthy Suresh‘s Savitri. He followed it with Hanu Raghavapudi‘s period romance Sita Ramam (2022), opposite Mrunal Thakur, and Lucky Baskhar (2024). Both Mahanati and Sita Ramam won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor – Telugu.

Other work and personal life

Besides acting, Salmaan works as a producer and singer and is involved in philanthropy. He is married to the architect Amal Sufiya, and they have a daughter.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.

Dulquer Salmaan: quick facts

• Born: 28 July 1983 in Kochi, to actor Mammootty and Sulfath Kutty (The Indian Express)
• First film: The Malayalam crime film Second Show (2012), as Harilal (Wikipedia)
• Telugu debut: Mahanati (2018), as Gemini Ganesan opposite Keerthy Suresh as Savitri (Wikipedia)
• Biggest Telugu hits: Mahanati (2018), Sita Ramam (2022) and Lucky Baskhar (2024) are, per Wikipedia, his highest-grossing releases (Wikipedia)
• Awards: Five Filmfare Awards South, including Best Actor (Critics) – Telugu for Mahanati and Sita Ramam (Wikipedia)
• Upcoming Telugu film: Aakasamlo Oka Tara, directed by Pavan Sadineni, dated 20 November 2026 on our records; the date status is shown in the upcoming list on this page.

More Dulquer Salmaan Telugu films listed on TMDB

These Telugu-language films are credited to Dulquer Salmaan on TMDB but are not yet part of the filmography table on this page. The credit column is TMDB’s own listing; check the film’s page for full details.