Film: Sikandar

Cast: Salman Khan, Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sathyaraj, Sharman Joshi, Prateik Babbar, Anjini Dhawan and Jatin Sarna

Director: A.R. Murugadoss

Rating: 4 Moons

It’s Eid. And it’s a Salman Khan film. You better be prepared to enjoy it. Or not go at all. Lately, it’s been all about his age. He’s turning 60. His heroine in the film, the lovely Rashmika Mandanna, is 28. But truly, they make such a delightfully loving couple that never mind the age difference – the screen just lights up in the scenes they are together. There aren’t too many, sadly, because Rashmika (who plays Saisri, the Maharani of Rajkot and Salman’s wife) passes away tragically at the start from injury in a bomb blast. And he then goes from being Sanjay Rajkot, the Maharaja, to Sikandar on a mission in Mumbai to bring not peace to her soul – but acceptance and comfort in his grief to his lonely, tortured life. Salman’s been cast opposite Bollywood’s best, but there is a tenderness and respect in his romance with Rashmika that is extraordinarily beautiful and pleasing to see. After he loses her, the light just goes out from his eyes. Like somebody put a switch off. And he wears a haunted look for the rest of the film that is only replaced by the red heat of rage and murder in his eyes when he gets mad.

It’s a simple and touching story. Saisri pledged to donate her heart, lungs and eyes after her death. And they go to three people in Mumbai. A young street urchin and two women. Sikander comes to Mumbai just to see how his wife lives on in these three beneficiaries. But he is persona non grata in Mumbai because a Mantriji (there always is one) who is evil incarnate and commits murder with impunity in the presence of the police top brass, is after his life. Sikander beat up the Mantriji’s (played alarmingly by Tamil actor Sathyaraj) son (Prateik Babbar who tries to be menacing, but fails) on a flight in Business Class for misbehaving with a lady passenger. And that is unforgiveable. The Mantriji is determined to make Sikandar’s existence hell and for that, wants to terminate whatever is left of Saisri’s life in the three organ beneficiaries to twist the knife in further. But Sikander won’t let that happen. And most of the 150 minutes of the film is spent in bloody violence that spills onto the streets, hospitals, railway stations and garbage dumps of Mumbai in the clash of good versus criminal.

Salman Khan is endearing. He brings a pathos to his deeds of derring-do. And always has a message that mends broken hearts and homes ruined by domestic disharmony. In the action scenes, he is supreme, and he fights like a warrior with a lion’s heart. Regrettably, these scenes are too many. And unnecessary. But it is what his audience will clap and whistle for. Rashmika Mandana is like a candle in the wind. Bright and illuminating while she is there. They truly share a heartbreaking romance. The rest of the cast is like chess players on a board. They move around and fill the squares adequately. The direction by A.R. Murugadoss could have been tighter. The background music by Santhosh Narayanan is not intrusive. ‘Sikandar’ has four songs. The last one when the credits go up, ‘Sikandar Naache’, has been added to give the audience more of the lead couple. It has Salman and Rashmika dancing. They start ‘Sikandar’ on that note, too, with ‘Zohra Jabeen’. And for an actor blessed with two left feet, he dances. It took four choreographers, Farah Khan, Ahmed Khan, Dinesh Master and Brinda, to make that happen. Go see the film. It’s Eid and Salman Khan.