Sikandar (2025 Film)

''Sikandar'' is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language action drama film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. It stars Salman Khan, Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sharman Joshi, Sathyaraj, Jatin Sarna, Sanjay Kapoor, Prateik Babbar and Kishore. In the film, Sanjay "Sikandar" Rajkot (Khan) is motivated by a tragic accident to redeem his past by changing the lives of three people and finds himself targeted by a vengeful politician.

''Sikandar'' was officially announced in April 2024, with principal photography commencing the following June. It was predominantly shot in Mumbai and Hyderabad and wrapped by March 2025. It is the first film featuring Khan and Nadiadwala since ''Kick'' (2014). ''Sikandar''s soundtrack was composed by Pritam, its background score was composed by Santhosh Narayanan, its cinematography handled by Tirru, and was edited by Vivek Harshan. The film had an estimated production budget of 200 crore.

''Sikandar'' was theatrically released in India by Pen Marudhar Entertainment on 30 March 2025, in standard and IMAX formats, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr. Upon release, the film received highly negative reviews from critics who criticized the screenplay and direction. It was a box office bomb.

Plot

Sanjay Rajkot, the final heir of the Rajkot dynasty of Gujarat, is known to the people as "Sikandar." He is married to Saisri, a painter, who is referred to as Rani Sahiba. One day, during a flight, Arjun, the son of Minister Rakesh Pradhan, encounters Monica, a former pornographic film actress who has since married and has a son. Arjun threatens to show her past videos to her son in exchange for sex. However, Sanjay, who is also on the flight, intervenes, engaging in a fistfight with Arjun and his bouncers. He ultimately forces Arjun to apologize to Monica. The next day, Minister Rakesh hires Inspector Prakash to arrest Sanjay for attacking his son, personally bribing him for the job. Prakash arrives at Sanjay's mansion in Rajkot, only to find that he is not there. Saisri informs him that Sanjay has already gone to the police station. When Prakash reaches the station, he finds Sanjay there but with his senior officers, who order Prakash to let him go.

Saisri feels that Sanjay is always distant from her. She often notices him forgetting their wedding anniversary and her birthday. One day, she discovers that she is pregnant and tries to share the news with Sanjay. However, at the same time, his quarry manager sells 40 kilos of explosives, which are threatened to be used at a site. This forces Sanjay to rush there to stop the attack. Unbeknownst to him, Saisri follows him to the site, where she gets caught in a bomb blast and is severely wounded. She is rushed to the Hospital, but succumbs to her injuries before she can tell Sanjay about her pregnancy. Prior to her death, she had signed up for organ donation, and her lungs, eyes, and heart are transplanted into patients in Mumbai.

Upon learning that her organs were used in surgeries there, Sanjay sets out to find the recipients and goes to Mumbai. He soon discovers that her lungs were donated to Kamar, an orphaned child from Dharavi, Mumbai; her eyes to Vaidehi Ranga; and her heart to Nisha. Sanjay first encounters Kamar and learns that he suffers from Lung disease due to the severe pollution in his area. The pollution is caused by Virat Bakshi, a businessman who has bought several acres of land to build a mall. However, in an attempt to force the remaining residents to vacate, he uses the land he owns as a dumping ground for garbage, worsening the living conditions.

Next, Sanjay meets Vaidehi and discovers that she lives with her husband, mother-in-law, and father-in-law. She runs a vadam shop, but her business has stopped receiving orders. She believes her strict father-in-law is the reason, as he holds the belief that women should not work. Finally, Sanjay meets Nisha, who is in the hospital because her donated heart has started to fail. Determined to save her, Sanjay arranges for a doctor from Dubai to guide the local doctors through a video call, which helps to stabilize her condition. He later learns that Nisha was born with a heart condition, which worsened after her ex-boyfriend, Kapil, callously informed her that he was getting married, which caused her immense emotional distress. This leads Sanjay to confront Kapil and beat him up for causing distress.

Before leaving for Rajkot, Arjun spots Sanjay and his group during a speech rally by his father Rakesh. This leads to a cat-and-mouse chase between Sanjay and Arjun, but in the end, Arjun accidentally kills himself by dropping Molotov cocktails on his own car. As Sanjay is leaving Mumbai, he receives a phone call from Rakesh, who vows revenge and says that he will kill all three of the organ donors. Despite this, Sanjay also challenges that he will protect them from him and stays in Mumbai. Eventually, Sanjay helps all three of the organ donors and their families and also develops Mumbai into a better place, allowing Kamar and other children to live peacefully; Vaidehi runs a business after her father-in-law allows her to work; and Nisha lives happily with her family. But soon, Rakesh frames Sanjay in a terrorist bomb attack, which makes the organ donors' trust in Sanjay decrease, but his friends help clear the confusion between them. Soon, Rakesh's henchmen go to attack the hospital where Kamar is hospitalized due to his lung problem, and Sanjay battles with his henchmen and defeats them. The following night, Sanjay breaks into Rakesh’s mansion and beats him. In the end, Sanjay surrenders himself to the Police, but the whole of Mumbai comes to protest about his arrest, and he's set free, thus earning him the title "Sikandar."

Cast

Production

Development

In February 2024, it was reported that Salman Khan and Sajid Nadiadwala would begin production on a film, nearly a decade on from their last collaboration ''Kick'' (2014): A.R. Murugadoss was then reported to be the film's director. It marks the first film between Khan and Murugadoss, who initially pitched the lead role of ''Ghajini'' (2008) to Khan. Nadiadwala and Murugadoss both recruited Khan for ''Sikandar''.

The film was announced by Khan on his social media platforms on Eid al-Fitr in April 2024, and expressed his excitement about collaborating with Murugadoss and Nadiadwala. The film was scheduled to be filmed soon thereafter across multiple countries, including Portugal and other European countries but was delayed due to Murugadoss' commitments on ''Madharasi'' (2025). Murugadoss eventually worked on ''Sikandar'' and ''Madharasi'' simultaneously until June 2024, although, he completed significant portions of ''Madharasi'' before continuing on ''Sikandar''. With an estimated production budget of 200 crore, ''Sikandar'' is the most expensive film produced by Nadiadwala and one of the most expensive Indian films of all time.

Casting

In May 2024, Rashmika Mandanna was announced as the female lead opposite Khan, marking their first collaboration. Sathyaraj and Prateik Babbar were cast soon thereafter. In September, Sharman Joshi, Kajal Aggarwal and Anjini Dhawan were hired, and one month later, Kishore also joined the cast.

Filming

Principal photography commenced on 19 June 2024, with aerial-based action sequences shot in Mumbai. An action sequence between Khan and Babbar was filmed in July, and in August, further action sequences, including gun fights and hand-to-hand action sequences, were shot over a period of 40 days across Mumbai. For these sequences, it was reported that sets worth ₹15 crore were created to resemble Dharavi and Matunga. In September, Khan sustained a rib injury during filming. Filming resumed later that month, with a song involving Khan, Mandanna and 200 background dancers being filmed. However, filming was again halted, due to heavy rains across Mumbai.

Filming was further halted due to security concerns after Khan received death threats from Lawrence Bishnoi, with a shooting also reported near Khan's home. After increasing on-set security, principal photography resumed in November, with filming taking place in Falaknuma Palace. Two songs featuring Qawwali and Holi-style themes were reportedly also filmed. Action sequences involving a train and 350 extras were then filmed on elaborate sets recreating Borivali and Mumbai Suburban. In January 2025, final filming period began in Mumbai, with four action sequences shot, reportedly including aircraft, trains, and sets resembling a prison and a hospital. Principal photography concluded on 14 March 2025.

Music

The film's music rights were acquired by Zee Music Company, with the songs being composed by Pritam and the background score being composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The first single, "Zohra Jabeen", was released on 4 March 2025. The second single, "Bam Bam Bhole", was released one week later, and the third single, "Sikandar Naache", was released on 18 March. The fourth single, "Hum Aapke Bina" was released on 28 March 2025. The fifth single, “Taikhaane Mein” was released on 8 April 2025.

Release

Theatrical

''Sikandar'' was theatrically released worldwide on 30 March 2025, in standard and IMAX formats, coinciding with Eid-al-Fitr. The film was released in more than 5,000 screens across India.

Many showings were cancelled due to the lack of audience and were replaced with other films including '' L2: Empuraan'' and ''The Diplomat''.

Home media

The film began streaming on Netflix from 25 May 2025.
The satellite rights were acquired by Star Gold, where it will coming soon.

Reception

Critical response

''Sikandar'' was widely reviewed, receiving negative reviews from critics.

In media outlets, ''Bollywood Hungama'' gave 2.5 the movie out of 5 stars. Tushar Joshi of ''India Today'', Dhaval Roy of ''The Times of India, Rishabh Suri of Hindustan Times,'' Saibal Chattarjee of ''NDTV India'' and Gautam Batra of ''Pinkvilla'' all gave it 2 out of 5 stars. Shubhra Gupta of ''The Indian Express'' rated the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars and Shubham Kulkrani of ''OTTPlay'' gave half a star out of 5.

Box office

Sikandar earned 30.06 crore domestically and gross ₹45 crore worldwide on its opening day, emerges as Khan's seventh highest opening day grosser. The film surpassed ₹100 crore worldwide on its second day and reached ₹105.18 crore in India within five days. Its global box office collection crossed ₹150 crore in the same period. ''Pinkvilla'' reported that the film grossed 150.75 crore worldwide in six days. ''DNA India'' reported that the film gross ₹154.35 crore worldwide in the first week and ₹97.47 crore net in India while ''Pinkvilla'' stated it ₹89.25 crore.

Though the film was a commercial failure, it was Salman Khan's eighteenth 100 crore net earner despite negative reviews. It concluded the theatrical run with an estimated worldwide gross of 176.18–177 crore.

References

External links

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{{AR Murugadoss

Hindi cinema
Films produced by Salman Khan
2025 films
2025 action drama films
2025 action thriller films
2020s Hindi-language films
Films set in Mumbai
Hindi-language action films
Indian action drama films
Indian political action films
Indian action thriller films
Indian political thriller films
Films shot in Mumbai
Films shot in Hyderabad, India
Films set in hospitals
Films featuring songs by Pritam
Films scored by Santhosh Narayanan
Indian IMAX films
Films directed by AR Murugadoss