For a young man in his early twenties, Shalu Rahim is living the life that many in his age group would die for.
Shuttling between interviews and promotional events, Shalu, who played the younger version of Dulquer Salmaan in the Rajeev Ravi film Kammatipaadam, takes some time off to speak to TNM from his home in Kochi.
With three films set to release in the coming months and two projects confirmed, this DJ-cum-actor’s Facebook bio reads, “still in the kitchen trying to make some Malabar biriyani.”
“My ultimate goal in life is to make a good Malabari biriyani,” quips Shalu.
It was in 2016 when this youngster made his debut in the silver screen, playing the role of young Dulquer Salmaan in Kammatipaadam, directed by ace cinematographer and filmmaker, Rajeev Ravi.
Shalu confesses that even though Kammatipaadam was his first film, he had received an offer to act in a Bollywood film back in 2007 in which he was supposed to play actor Madhavan’s younger version.
“Due to god’s grace, that film didn’t work out,” said Shalu laughing, though he admits that he was disappointed back then as he had told all his friends in school that he was going to act in a film.
Fast-forward to 2015, Shalu had just taken up a job as a DJ in Dubai.
“I normally don’t check my Facebook messages but one day I was bored and was going through Facebook, when I saw that there was a message from Anju Mohandas, the casting director of Kammatipaadam,” says Shalu.
Anju got in touch with Shalu after she came across his pictures on Instagram. She told him that they were looking for someone to play the role of young Dulquer Salmaan.
Shalu recalls that, initially, he thought that it was a prank as most of his friends in those days used to make fun of him by saying that he resembled Dulquer Salmaan.
Just like that, Shalu came down to Kochi, met Rajeev Ravi and thus made his way into the film industry.
Ever since Kammatipaadam, Shalu was offered various roles but he didn’t take them up as he had certain reservations in doing the roles that came his way.
“I would like to do roles or stories that would entertain people my age,” says Shalu, also adding that he is not interested in doing hero roles.
“For example, if a bunch of friends decide to bunk classes to watch my movie, I would not want them to come out of the theatre feeling that it was a waste of time,” says the young actor.
More importantly, Shalu feels that the young audience should be able to relate to his movies or the roles that he does. He cites the example of his role in the movie Kaly, which released on February this year, in which he refers to his character as a “local Kochi Machan”, a character that many youngsters in Kochi or Kerala can relate to.
The actor is excited as he awaits the release of his films and one of them is the Tovino Thomas starrer, Maradona, directed by Vishnu Narayan which is expected to release in July.
Speaking about his experience of acting with stars like Tovino, Shalu says that he was at ease in the sets, also adding that the good vibes he felt inside the sets helped him to get into the character without any trouble.
Shalu adds that all the roles he has done so far are different in some way and that they vary in pattern and style. This is one of the reasons why he feels that he is improving as an actor.
The two other movies that will be releasing in the coming months are Anuragam which is expected to release in August and Jallianwala Bagh which is expected to release in November.
A promo song from the movie Jallianwalla Bagh released in April this year to positive response.
Even as the actor is busy with his film assignments, interviews and promotions, he is finding time to perform as a DJ at events.
“Nowadays, I perform only for private functions though and that too if it is in Dubai,” says the actor.
On a lazy day, Shalu is just like any other young man his age. “I sleep a lot and I eat a lot,” he says, laughing.
The youngster credits his journey as an actor and as a DJ to his parents, whom he refers to as the “new generation parents.”
Watch the promo song of Jallianwala Bagh: