Dulquer Salmaan recalls earning first paycheck when he was 10: 'It had nothing to do with my dad, no nepotism advantage'

Dulquer Salmaan recalled his first paycheck was for an advertisement he did when he was 10, but clarified his father Mammootty had no hand in him getting the project.

Dulquer Salmaan, who has been in the entertainment industry for 10 years, has often spoken about the impact of nepotism on his career. The actor, whose father is the popular Malayalam actor Mammootty, has repeatedly said that he tried to make it on his own. Dulquer stayed away from a career in acting for a long time due to fear of comparisons with his father, but recently shared that his first paycheck was also from an acting gig.

Dulquer Salmaan with his father Mammootty. He said his father did not help him in getting his first paycheck.

However, Dulquer also clarified that Mammootty had not helped him in landing his first paycheck, which he got at the age of 10. The actor recently recalled earning the ₹2,000 paycheck and said he wasn't at advantage due to nepotism.

Dulquer said during a conversation with Curly Tales YouTube channel, "I was 10 years old. This has nothing to do with my dad, this is not some nepotism advantage. I was randomly picked by Mr Rajiv Menon's ad agency. They came to my school to pick kids for a TVC and I was one of those who got picked. They gave me ₹ 2,000 for that."

The actor added, "It was like unheard of money, like it was 2 crore of something. I was like 10 or 9 years old. I gave ₹ 500 to my grandparents and rest to my mother. And then I used to keep being like that 'Maa that ₹ 2,000 I have no, can I buy this.' So then my mom is like 'you finished that ₹ 2,000 long ago.' She still talks about this."

Dulquer's latest release was Chup: Revenge Of An Artist, in which he starred alongside Sunny Deol, Shreya Dhanwanthary, and Pooja Bhatt. Director R Balki described the action-thriller as an ode to Guru Dutt. The film, which released in theatres on September 23, follows a serial killer who goes around exclusively murdering film critics.