AR Murugadoss breaks silence on Salman Khan’s Sikandar box office debacle, reveals why it failed

Sikandar was Salman Khan's first Eid release in two years. The film, which also featured Rashmika Mandanna, was released in theatres on March 30.

Salman Khan’s last release, Sikandar, turned out to be a big dud at the box office, with the film failing to impress both critics and audiences. Now, filmmaker AR Murugadoss has broken his silence on the film’s underwhelming reception, sharing his perspective on what might have gone wrong.

Sikandar tells the story of a man called Sanjay Rajkot, who takes on a corrupt politician, upending his life.

AR Murugadoss introspects

The filmmaker spoke about the film during the promotion of his upcoming project, Madharaasi, where he shared that he blamed his inability to understand Hindi as the reason behind the film’s failure.

AR Murugadoss said, “When we make films in our mother tongue, it gives us strength. We know what is happening here. Today there’s a trend going and suddenly the audience gets connected with that trend. When we shift language, we don’t know what the youngsters are enjoying in that language. All we need is a script to believe it.”

He added, “For once, I can take up Telugu films, but Hindi may not work for us because after we write the script, they translate into English. Then it is again translated in Hindi. We can only guess what they are saying, but we are exactly not sure about what is happening. When you make film in an unknown language and place, it feels like you are handicapped. It is like you don’t have hands. I strongly believe our strength depends on where and the culture we belong to.”

About Sikandar

Sikandar tells the story of a man called Sanjay Rajkot, who takes on a corrupt politician, upending his life. Helmed by AR Murugadoss, the action drama also featured Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sharman Joshi, Prateik Babbar, and Sathyaraj in key roles.

With the film, Salman returned to the big screen for the first time since 2023 but failed to make a mark at the box office. Sikandar is Salman's first Eid release in two years. Sikandar was released in theatres on March 30.

Despite receiving criticism for its direction and performances, the film managed to cross ₹100 crore at the box office and ultimately grossed over ₹200 crore worldwide. However, considering Salman Khan's standards, the film was deemed an underperformer at the box office. The film was also panned when it was released on Netflix in May.