'King of Kotha' in Dubai: Indian actor Dulquer Salmaan promises a mass entertainer

Team KT caught up with the stars of the movie as they landed in the emirate ahead of KoK's release tomorrow

Nasreen Abdulla

Published: Wed 23 Aug 2023, 9:02 AM

Last updated: Wed 23 Aug 2023, 10:42 AM

With his new film King of Kotha (KoK) set to hit the screens on Thursday, Indian actor Dulquer Salmaan is basking in the glory of having truly arrived as a pan-Indian star.

Riding a high after the stupendous success of his Telugu film Sita Ramam and the award-winning performance in Chup in 2022, DQ — as he is popularly known — now has two back-to-back releases in 2023. One is his first series titled Guns and Gulaab that released on Netflix last week and then the highly anticipated KoK.

Telling the story of a violent and lawless land called Kotha, KoK is centered around the lead character Raju — played by Dulquer Salmaan — who is the "king" of Kotha. The movie has managed to drum up an unprecedented buzz and is poised to create box office history in the south Indian state of Kerala Kerala. Currently, it has earned approximately Dh1.2 million in early ticket sales in the state alone.

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Originally shot in Malayalam, KoK will be released in four languages in over 40 countries worldwide, including Japan, Australia and Sri Lanka. In the GCC, it is being distributed by Fun Asia Network and will be released in more than 140 theatres. Also starring Aishwarya Lakshmi, Dubai girl and radio presenter Nyla Usha, Prasanna and Shabeer Kallarakkal, the film is the directorial debut of Abhilash Joshiy — son of legendary Malayalam director Joshiy. Ritika Singh has performed an item number titled Kalapakkaara, the dance of which has become a social media trend.

Team KT caught up with the stars of the movie as they landed in Dubai in a fun tete-a-tete where they laughed, teased each other, and revealed little-known information. Here is what they said.

About the film

Dulquer Salmaan: We have not revealed much about the movie in the trailers or the promotions. There are so many more layers to this film. But I have to say, so many things happened outside our control. Like the things that have found connect with people and have been hyped, it just did it on its own.

Aishwarya: What you know is very little but there is even more in the film. We can’t tell more than that right now.

Shabeer: The entire experience of the movie was amazing. I enjoyed the football elements, the fights and all the physical aspects of the role I have essayed. There is friendship, there is drama, there is revenge…and to have a cast like this was a dream.

About the world of Kotha

Dulquer: We took care to create an entire fictional and lawless world of Kotha that you cannot equate with any place. Like in a lot of movies, you know that this scene was shot here. So even though we shot in Karaikudi, we put a set. My dad asked me, “Wait, you went all the way to Karaikudi and put a set? Why couldn’t you put a set here?” But we just wanted to create a very unique world.

Prasanna: When they first asked me to come to Karaikudi, I thought it was an attempt to appeal to the Tamil audience, as it is a pan-Indian movie. But when I reached there, I understood that they were trying to create something new. So, you won’t see Karaikudi in the film at all. It is something completely different

Aishwarya: What I loved the most was coming to sets and discovering the different layers of the world of Kotha. Like each day, in each location, there would be so many things we would discover. The art director has done such a wonderful job

About Karaikudi

Dulquer: We were the circus that came to town in Karaikudi that refused to leave (laughing). By the end of the shoot, people knew where we were staying and what our daily schedule was. But they were just so loving and so welcoming to us. The town itself also had such a rich culture and history.

Prasanna: The hotel we were staying in, they knew what our diet preferences were and what we would eat at what time. They knew how much sugar we would like in our tea or coffee and how much oil to use in our food. The people were just amazing.

Nyla: For me, the most challenging thing was to get from Dubai to Karaikudi each time. After flying to either Trichy or Madhurai, I had to travel another almost three hours to get to the sets. But once I got there, the air was so fresh, and the food was so good that it was all worth it.

About the viral song Kalapakkara

Aishwarya: When doing songs and dances now, the question is whether it is Instagrammable. So we had to keep that in mind.

Dulquer: But none of us knew which was the hook step. Ritika has performed so many steps in it and we thought one of those might catch on. However, the trend was the chorus step. I think our choreographer Shareef master always had that plan. It is just that none of us were aware of it.

Ritika: It is when I first went for an event that someone told me to perform the hook step of Kalapakkaara and I asked, ‘which is the hook step’. That is when I realized that this particular step had become viral.

Did you know

Dulquer Salmaan: Despite being busy with back-to-back projects, DQ has poured in hours dubbing for KoK in all four languages. “It is simply because I hate listening to someone else’s voice for me in languages that I know,” he said. “Also, I think I owe it to the people of those industries for the love that they have shown me. Sometimes it is hard to find time, but I still manage to do it.”

Nyla Usha: The star, who has been working as a radio presenter in Dubai for almost two decades, worked round the clock to juggle both her jobs. “On Fridays, I would finish my show in the morning and then catch a flight in the afternoon to get to the sets,” she said. “I would shoot round the clock over the weekend and then catch an early morning flight to come back and do my show on Monday morning. I would come straight from the airport into my studio.”

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