Dulquer Salmaan to star in R Balki’s next?

By Murtuza Iqbal

Filmmaker R Balki is known for directing light-hearted films like Cheeni Kum, Paa, Shamitabh, Ki & Ka, and PadMan. But now, looks like the filmmaker wants to step out of his comfort zone and make something different.

According to a report in Pinkvilla, R Balki is all set to direct an edge-of-the-seat thriller and  Dulquer Salmaan has been roped in to play the lead role.

A source told the portal, “He had been toying with the idea of making a thriller for a while now and the lockdown gave him the time to explore that space on paper. He worked on the idea and developed it into a full-fledged screenplay. Given the way his script shaped up, Balki and his team felt that Dulquer Salmaan would fit the bill and be apt for the protagonist’s part in the film.”

“The female lead and other actors of the film will be locked soon, and a formal announcement is on the way,” the source added.

Reportedly, Balki has already started the pre-production of the film.

Dulquer Salmaan is a star down South, especially in the Malayalam film industry. The actor made his Bollywood debut with the 2018 release Karwaan which also starred Irrfan Khan and Mithila Palkar. His second Bollywood movie was the 2019 release The Zoya Factor.

Currently, Dulquer has two films lined-up, Kurup and Hey Sinamika. On 1^st January 2021, the actor had posted the first look poster of Kurup and had announced that apart from Malayalam, the movie will also release in other languages including Hindi.