Not Only Salman Khan, Director AR Murugadoss Is Equally Responsible For Sikandar Debacle

Sikandar is far from the eidi Salman Khan fans expect when he announces his films for release during the festival. If you are wondering what went wrong with Ghajini fame director AR Murugadoss at the helm and hit machine Rashmika Mandanna (Chhaava, Animal and Pushpa) paired opposite the Bollywood star, it turns out, almost everything.

The only redeeming sequence in the movie is Salman’s grand entry. In his signature style, Sikandar (Salman) thrashes a bratty politician’s son who attempts to assault a woman on an airplane. Beyond this point, the film quickly falls apart.

Sikandar follows the story of a Gujarati royal – Sanjay aka Raja Saab aka Sikandar, whose ‘dharma’ is ‘praja seva’ – the residents of Rajkot. However, this aspect is not fleshed out. It’s only implied through the complaints of his wife, Rani Saisri, played by Rashmika Mandanna, who points out from time to time that Raja Saab is “busy with his responsibilities”. Despite the obvious problems in their marriage, Saisri is not the one to complain but rather shields him, in a role that starts and ends there.

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Before the first hour wraps up, Saisri is killed in an attempt to save Raja Saab. In turn, he does not even visit his ailing wife in the hospital as she battles for her life in the ICU.

At the heart of the movie is a dead wife whose organs are donated to three people in Mumbai – a slum dweller, Karamuddin, a CA topper and struggling entrepreneur, Vaidehi (Kajal Agarwal) and a heartbroken college girl. As an act of repentance for neglecting his wife, Raja Saab vows to ensure the safety of the recipients of his wife’s organs. Bizarre then becomes an understatement as far as the plot goes.

Kajal Agarwal, Sharman Joshi, Anjini Dhawan and Prateik Babbar play their parts to the best of their capabilities in whatever little screentime they get. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for the lead pair. Not as a fan of Salman, but as a sympathiser for Bollywood (arguably going through a creative crisis), one roots for Sikandar, only to be disappointed. The film does not even demand much from Salman. He is expected to deliver his massy dialogues, throw punches at the villain, take off his shirt in the climax and crack a badly written, double-entendre joke here and there. But this too seems too big a task for him.

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Rashmika struggles. She falls into the trap of playing a character whose role is simply to inflate the male protagonist’s ego. Be it her attempt to speak Hindi convincingly or the awkwardness of performing romantic scenes with an actor decades older than her, she is set up to fail.

Salman, however, cannot be blamed alone. The film suffers from a lack of depth. While it may have been all good on paper, execution falters. A convoluted screenplay attempts to check off all the mandatory boxes of a masala film. There is an effort to create a politically correct, socially acceptable film that avoids controversy. Director AR Murugadoss, credited with reinventing Aamir Khan with Ghajini, has overlooked all of Salman’s strengths and highlighted all his weaknesses. It seems like an attempt to sabotage the film. The poorly done VFX and dull background score do little to garner attention.

Dialogues like – “Qayde main rahoge toh fayde main rahoge”, “Suna hai bahot log mere piche pade hain, bas mere mudne ki der hai”, “Jaan booj ke ki gayi galti ke lie koi maafi nahi hai”, are all there- tailor-made to manufacture whistles and applause for “Bhai”, but alas, the flat and tired delivery make them sound passe.

Also Read: With Sikandar, Salman Khan Breaks Rashmika’s Hit Streak

Overall, Sikandar is intended to evoke emotions. A man blames himself for the death of his wife, pregnant with their child. Even with a strong core and intent, the film falters because it attempts too much. The preachy message of organ donation, environmentalism, and women’s empowerment, taking on the problematic ‘alpha male’ trope and much more, all make the narrative chaotic. Safe to say that this Salman starrer then seems “good” in comparison to his “simpler” films like Radhe, Bharat and Tubelight.

For its redemption, Sikandar has a scene that will make you feel some sort of emotion (read: rib-tickling laughter). It happens when Saisri requests Sikandar for a ‘pal’ from his busy life, only to break into the most Anglo-Indian version of the song – Lag Jaa Gale sung by Lulia Vantur.