Aishwarya Lekshmi Says King of Kotha Backlash Made Her Hesitate About Working With Dulquer Salmaan Again

Aishwarya Lekshmi has spoken candidly about the lasting impact of the backlash surrounding King of Kotha, revealing that the criticism affected her confidence to such an extent that she once questioned whether she could work with Dulquer Salmaan again.

The actor discussed the experience during a conversation with television presenter Ranjini Haridas on her YouTube channel. Looking back at the response to the 2023 Malayalam film, Aishwarya said the criticism did not end with the film’s theatrical release and continued to influence how she viewed her own performances.

Aishwarya Lekshmi Recalls the Impact of King of Kotha Trolling

King of Kotha arrived in 2023 with considerable expectations, particularly because of Dulquer Salmaan’s presence and the film’s scale. However, its reception also brought criticism directed at several aspects of the movie.

Aishwarya recalled that the backlash affected not only her but also Dulquer and other members of the film’s team. She said her acting and dialogue delivery became subjects of online trolling.

More significantly, the actor acknowledged that some of the criticism eventually became difficult for her to separate from her own assessment of her work.

According to Aishwarya, she sometimes found herself wondering whether the negative comments about her performance were justified. That self-doubt, she suggested, made the experience particularly difficult.

‘Rajuvetta’ Incident During Hello Mummy Shoot

Aishwarya also recalled an incident from the shooting of Hello Mummy in 2024 that brought the earlier criticism back to her mind.

She said an assistant director on the film made fun of the way her character had addressed Dulquer as “Rajuvetta” in King of Kotha. The actor explained that the reference was painful because audiences had already mocked the way the dialogue was delivered.

Rather than being an isolated joke, Aishwarya said the incident reminded her of how deeply the online criticism had affected her.

She indicated that several such experiences accumulated over time, making it harder to simply dismiss the trolling and move on from it.

Aishwarya Considered Avoiding a Dulquer Salmaan Collaboration

The impact became particularly apparent when Aishwarya was preparing for another project involving Dulquer.

She recalled having an advertisement scheduled with the actor but becoming concerned about the possible reaction to seeing the two of them together again.

Aishwarya said she even warned the team involved with the advertisement that the backlash could potentially affect the brand as well. At that point, she felt she might not be able to work with Dulquer again because of how strongly the previous trolling had affected her.

Her comments appear to reflect the psychological effect that sustained public criticism can have on an actor’s confidence, rather than any reported professional disagreement between the two actors.

What Happened With King of Kotha?

Directed by Abhilash Joshiy, King of Kotha marked his directorial debut and featured Dulquer Salmaan in the lead alongside Aishwarya Lekshmi.

The film also starred Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna, Gokul Suresh, Nyla Usha and Chemban Vinod Jose.

Set against the backdrop of a fictional town dominated by crime and power struggles, the film was positioned as a major-scale Malayalam action drama and generated significant anticipation before release.

However, its theatrical performance fell short of the expectations surrounding the project.

King of Kotha Box Office Performance

According to Sacnilk, King of Kotha recorded a reported worldwide gross of ₹31.35 crore. Industry reports had previously placed the film’s production budget at around ₹50 crore.

Box-office figures from trade trackers can differ depending on methodology and subsequent updates, so the reported collection should be treated as an estimate rather than an audited figure.