Dulquer Salmaan, who made his Bollywood debut with the 2018 film Karwaan, has opened up about the challenges he faced in the Hindi film industry. The 42-year-old recalled how he once had to fake his stardom just to secure a chair on a film set.
During his appearance at The Hollywood Reporter's Producers Roundtable 2025, Dulquer revealed, “When I did Hindi films here, my two people and I would just get pushed around on set. I had to create this illusion of being this big star. Otherwise, I would not find chairs to sit in. I would not find space to look at the monitors. It would be a big crowd of people.”
The experience, however, taught him an important life lesson. “I realised it is all perception. If you come in a fancy car with a lot of people, then suddenly the perception is, ‘Oh, this is a star.' Which is sad because that is not where my energy should go,” he said.
The Sita Ramam actor also wondered whether such behaviour was inevitable, given Bollywood's larger-than-life nature.
He shared, “I just could not understand. I do not want to be mean to any industry, but I guess it is a cultural thing. Me and Rana (Daggubati) were discussing that the size of the Hindi industry is so massive – the number of theatres, markets, and so many states speak the language and watch those films. We have just 1–2 states, and we think that we are a big deal. Maybe the size of the industry influences things.”
Drawing parallels between Bollywood and Mollywood, Dulquer added, “We never had any luxury on set. We would shoot all over the state, get permission from a house, pay the owners, and that would be where we would change or use the restrooms. That was always the practice.”
On the work front, Dulquer Salmaan was last seen in the Tamil period drama Kaantha. The mystery-thriller, directed by Selvamani Selvaraj, will premiere on Netflix on December 12. Up next, Dulquer is set to feature in the Malayalam movie I'm Game.
