“Insaaf Nahi, Saaf Karne Aya Hu”
Disclaimer
This Sikandar movie review will be full of spoilers. Avoid reading if you haven’t watched it yet. Dekh aao fir padhna. Aur agar sirf verdict chahiye toh you can skip directly to the last paragraph. Kyuki, ‘Main Hu Sikandar, Lekin Ab Jo Hoga, Wo Sikandar Ka Muqaddar Hoga.’
Why So Much Hate?
I see people not just criticising but bashing this film. Well, I feel otherwise. While I won’t be shying away from pointing the flaws (which are several). I feel Sikandar was way better than Race 3, Radhe and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, because in those films, almost everything that was going on was quite ridiculous and over the top from start to finish, including the jokes, the action and other characters. While in Sikandar, I felt there were a lot of small sincere scenes, characters and a potentially good plot. Not everything was wrong.
But surely they were packaged with a lot of half baked scenes. So let’s get into the details.
The Opening and Setup
Critical analysis aside, one should keep in mind that this is a mass-masala action and drama film, so every single thing cannot be called ridiculous. I very much liked the opening sequence inside the plane. The follow up scenes of the Minister, the inspector reaching Sikandar’s mansion and his dialogue with Rani Saisri setup the tone of the film.
The fight sequence was also quite balanced and well executed here. the only two things I did not like in this sequence was Prateik Babbar’s bad dialogue delivery, and that one single shot where in the middle of the fight Salman is keeping his hands in his pocket, and Prateik’s bodyguards are falling in slow motion.
Bad Acting Pro Max
For some reason, it felt like almost everyone was forcefully doing bad acting. I’ve seen Prateik Babbar doing good acting in some ott content but here he was the worst. Sathyaraj, our beloved Katappa, was almost comical in very scene. No real expression on his face and his teeth always looked like he was grinning, making me hard to take him seriously. His only son died but he did not feel a grieving father either from his acting or dialogues.
What happened to Sharman Joshi? He’s such a good actor but here line he says seems mechanical. Jatin Sarna was underutilized. Anjini Dhawan and Sanjay Kapoor seemed to be from Bhaijaan’s Berozgar Yojna, as netizens call it. Apart from Kajal Aggarwal and his family, all actors seemed to be doing mandatory bad acting.
Rashmika Mandanna is good in a few scenes but now with time, her Hindi accent is becoming annoying. She was fine in Animal, they made her character south Indian. She was nowhere near a Marathi character in Chhava and here too she seems to be not speaking Hindi perfectly. We can obviously cut her some slack par kab tak?? Jab itne paise, itna fame, itna regular kaam mil raha hai, zo hazaro laakho actors ko zindagi mei nahi milta.. toh fir apko bhi mehnat karni hogi.
That singing part of hers was alarmingly bad. The voice seemed fake. It was an editing error too, because it felt like a highly auto-tuned, separate audio file was pasted on it. The lipsync was also off, it did not feel like she was singing it, and the acting was not fitting well either. Every scene cannot be just big eyes and big smile.
Bhaijaan Ki Acting
Have spoken about this multiple times. There was a time when Salman Khan used to turn into characters. Chulbul Pandey in Dabanng, Sultan in Sultan, and many others. But now it is all about saying all lines with a flat face. We see no character now. Just Salman Khan saying his lines films after films.
He used to be brilliant with emotion scenes. His eyes are so expressive. All fell flat in Sikandar. When he was crying, his eyes had tears, his face was sad, nothing was translating. Ek time tha jab Salman ke emotional hone pe main wo emotion feel kar pata tha. It’s all gone now.
Sikandar Ke Gaane
There is no denying that the Bollywood Music Industry has gone down. Song are not as good as they used to be. With the explosion of internet, huge number of die-hard fans and the algorithm of the platforms, the songs get numbers and hence the focus of the studios are now only to sell the music rights, not make good music that fits the film. Most songs today are forgettable.
Sajid Nadiadwala made Kick. Jumme Ki Raat, Hangover are loved even today. Tu Hi Tu and Ye Hi Zindagi are melodious and fit the narrative so well. A promo song like Yaar Na Mile is 1000 times better than Sikandar Naache. Here the songs are forgettable. They especially made a song that looked and felt like Eid celebration only to turn out to be an anniversary song. Was it only done so that they can release a song on Eid and fool the audience? Appears so.
Title theme is crap. Pata nahi kisko pasand aa raha hai. Actor ke pyaar hai iska ye matlab nhi kuch bhi accept kar lenge. There have been iconic music in Salman Khan films. Please don’t forget that and please stop being a blind fan. The music hardly added an emotional depth in sad scenes. I still remember the emotional music in Kick. So pure, so heart touching.
Salman Ka Dance
I refuse to believe Salman Ko Dance nahi ata. In Wanted he was exceptional. He is remembered for Munni Badnaam even today. He is someone who can make even simple or even ridiculous steps iconic, such has Hud Hud Dabangg, Dhinka Chika, Jeene Ke Hain char Din. Where is that Salman Khan. Where is that child-like smile and fun? I want him back.
Yes, he had a broken rib and we can let one song pass. Bam Bam Bhole was decently shot given the circumstances and I have high praise for Salman to do the dance he did. But baki sab? We can even understand age factor and stuff but then why do you have to do such film and songs? You want the audience to accept that he has aged and cannot dance the same he used to, but then you want to do the same kinds of films?? Ye ek tarfa pyaar kyu?
Make a different kind of film. We want a well made film, no matter the genre. We don’t want the same repackaged mass-masala over and over again only with reducing quality.
“Kuch Bhi” Dialogues
Don’t even get me started. Bad dialogues with bad acting is peak cringe. Salman ne toh bola hi same tone mein saare dialogues, lekin baaki actors ne toh hadd kar di.
Ridiculous Action
Why do you have to do the same old stuff over and over again? And who are these people who love this? Zindagi mein kuch dhang ka aur dekha nahi? Aur dekhna bhi nahi? Wahi slow motion, wahi sab gundo ka hawa mein udna. How strong is Sikandar? How does he able to make 10+ people fly off like that? In the last scene there are 200 gundas and he beats everyone single-handedly. For context, even Captain America has not been shown like that and he is a super soldier in a superhero movie. Ek zamatha jab ye chal jata tha, lekin 2025 mein bhi wahi ho raha hai.
Yes, he does look good in a few shots. Yes, we love mass action and yes, we can let go of a few things because we know it is cinema. But kuch toh mehnat karlo, makers. Kuch toh different kar lo. Sab producers, directors audience ko bewakoof kyu samajhte hain? We understand Salman had some health concerns. But then use your brains and be creative and work on something original and unseen. Why always slow motion, and flying gundas?
Writing And Direction
Sikandar was a combo of Ghaniji + Kick + Jai Ho
Ghajini coz the love of his life dies. Kick coz he donates money to help the needy, especially medical help. Jai Ho coz samaj seva with bad actors.
Remember the mass films like Wanted and Kick? Wo bhi toh mass-malasa entertainers hain. Lekin banane ka ek tareeka hota hai. Though the plot seemed to have layers and a story-line, like how Sikandar was framed for the bombings, the wife is alive as her organs gave life to three people. But the execution was so ridiculous. Nonsense dialogues, bad acting, incoherent screenplay, bad acting and bad action sequences.
Rashmika’s death was so random. Bas marna hai toh kuch bhi dikha do. Sikandar can randomly call anybody in the world and get work done, be it an international doctor or the PM (indicate toh wahi kiya tha). There are so much more but don’t want to list down everything one by one. Films are not perfect. It’s not about Nolan level logic. But we have seen good masala movies before and we have seen good Salman Khan masala movies before. So please don’t think we will accept mediocrity. Can’t believe this is the same Murugadoss that delivered amazing movies like Ghajini and Holiday.
The only good thing was that somewhere, some scenes worked. The plot itself had the potential of being a great film.
Movie Marketing
There is no doubt that NGE did not put much efforts in marketing Sikandar. Average posters, no-logic Sunday release, average songs, average teasers and trailer. All template stuff just in the hope that people will come because its Salman and its Eid. Taking audience for granted is not done.
They did not even try to hide that Rashmika would die. It was so evident from all the promos. Maybe the organ donation part was the only surprise in the movie. Everything else, almost the whole plot, was revealed in the promo material.
Money would be recovered from ott, music and tv rights apart from theatrical business, whatever the numbers are. Then there are brand deals that nobody talks about. So the studio will get its money back even if it does not make a profit. This is the reason studios nowadays have stopped caring. No matter who the actor or studio is, the functioning is very much alike.
To The Fans
The review is about the film and the process of working. Not about Salman Khan, the person. The review is also about the director, other actors, music composer, the producer, and the system, The criticism is about the way they work and the outcome. An actor does not decide all the aspects of filmmaking and hence, the criticism here is not about the actor. Creative criticism actually means that someone wants things to be better. Not because somebody has ill-will against somebody. So please think before you react on this review. Thank you!
Verdict/Recommendation
If you like the trailer and songs, go for it. The film is just like that. The film is family friendly. I would recommend to show them the trailer and ask if they wish to see the film, otherwise they might blame you later if they don’t like it. Don’t wish to give review stars, just request that please if somebody speaks about the process, listen to them and have a healthy discussion. Blind following, blind hatred, and fan wars have lead to this situation.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments either here on the website or on our Instagram.
Author: Ishan Jain
Cast – Salman Khan, Rashmika Mandanna, Sathyaraj, Kajal Aggarwal, Prateik Babbar, Jatin Sarna, Anjini Dhawan and others.
Directed by – A R Murugadoss
Release – 30 March 2025
Produced by – Sajid Nadiadwala
Studio – Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment
Also check out: Sikandar Phone Wallpapers
Sikandar Trailer Review
Sikandar – Zohra Jabeen Song Review
Sikandar – Bam Bam Bhole Song Review
Sikandar Naache Song Review
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