Like father, like son - Dulquar Salman

Mammootty has always kept his family life tucked away from the prying eyes of media. No wonder we all came to know about his son's entry to film world quite late. Dulquar's marriage too was held in the soft glow of the penumbra. Rarely do we get a chance to zoom on Dulquar Salman, in glaring spotlight.

The queer name:

Dulquar will tell you that it was his father who coined this name, from that of two brave soldiers in Islamic history - Dulquar Nayina and Salman Alpharis. "But, I am Chalu at home. It was my mother who first called me so," he adds.

Education:

Dulquar studied in Kerala only till first standard. Then he joined Shishya School in Chennai. Later, he graduated in business administration from the US.

Marriage:

He tied the knot with architect Sufiya on December 22. During their first meeting itself, Dulquar had revealed his desire to act in films, some day.

Cinema:

Passion for cinema was something irresistible . But, it was always the technicalities involved in filmmaking that attracted him more. While studying in eighth standard, Dulquar captured a shortfilm with his father's camera, in which he made the domestic helps act.

It was director Shyamaprasad who first offered him a role. But Dulquar was hesitant. He felt he had to study the various aspects of cinema in detail before venturing further and for that did a short term course in film.

Other interests:

Like his father, Dulquar was only too fond of cars. Classmate Karan Chandok fueled his desire. Though his mother never let Dulquar chase this dream further, his very first business venture was a web portal for trading cars. Now, Dulquar heads a successful dental business chain in Chennai. He is also the director of Bangalore-based Motherhood Hospital,launched by his sister Surumi and husband Dr. Rehan Syed. Dulquar is also exploring the market opportunities of his new initiative the 'electronic slate', a mini tablet that helps students, right from kindergarten to college level, in storing the lessons taught in classrooms.

Why Second Show :

Second Show was a collective venture headed by a team of youngsters, who were all eager to explore the medium. He felt he would be more comfortable working with such a team than acting under any of those experienced directors.

In fact, Dulquar's mediocre launch surprised many even within the industry. When this question was thrown at him, Mammootty said, "I never got a premiere launch in cinema. During those struggling days, I was known as Mammootty, the son of Paanaparambil Ismail. It was only later that my father came to be known through me. Now, Dulquar is known as Mammootty's son. If I am destined to be known as his father, let it be so."