Sikandar directed by AR Murugadoss, marks Salman Khan’s return to the big screen after his 2023 film Tiger 3. However, the film has failed to impress the audience and is witnessing a considerable drop in box office collections.
On release day (30 March) the film opened to Rs 30.6 crore and went on to make Rs 33.36 crore on day 2, and day 3 saw a significant drop of 43.79% closing at a mere Rs 18.75 crore, according to Bollywood Hungama.
The Quint spoke to industry experts to find out what went wrong with the Eid release.
Sikandar, produced by Sajid Naidiadwala and reportedly made on a budget of Rs 200 crore, saw a 55% drop in collections by the fourth day since its release.
"Day 4 saw a drop of 55% from the previous day. The drop was expected but not such a massive one. The word-of-mouth and reviews reached people and they decided to stay away and not spend that kind of money on the film.”Rohit Khilnani, Journalist
“Even Day 1 opening was not optimum and on Eid day, the film should have collected anywhere between 45-50 but it was only 33%,” says trade expert Taran Adarsh.
Films released around Eid in the past have seen better collections during Basi Eid but that wasn't the case for Sikandar.
"The collection was 30% lesser than Eid day and, in some belts, had dropped by 50% -60%,” adds trade expert Komal Nahta. He predicts the film will close at a 105 crore lifetime collection.
What Went Wrong for 'Sikandar'?
“I think it was an outright bad film, which deserved to flop, and it has. If they think the audience are going buy the senseless plot line they have delivered, they are mistaken,” says Nahta. `
Sikandar stars Salman Khan as a rich & benevolent heir Sanjay Rajkot while Rashmika Mandanna portrays the role of his wife, Saisri.
“The pre-release unit – the trailer, the teaser – did not catch on in a big way. The pairing of him and Rashmika Mandana looked odd and there was a lot of chatter on that as well. This also added to the limitation,” Adarsh adds.
Rohit Khilnani, a senior journalist, adds that "the story and the quality of a film are big contributing factors to the film's poor performance at the box office."
“People coming out of the theatres are saying, ’there is a lack of effort from Salman Khan’. This is something people from the industry probably notice, but today everyone is seeing that. People spend a minimum of Rs 1000 to watch a film and they want the lead man make to some effort to entertain them."Rohit Khilnani, Journalist
Adarsh opines that the film's collections were mostly influenced by Khan's star power but the technical aspects of the film failed to support it, "Star power can contribute to an extent and whatever collection you see is because of Salman’s star power. The content is not supporting it. The emotions and music is lacking in this film, the performances have also not hit a chord. It’s all downhill now."
“Salman needs to rethink and reinvent himself. His films are not doing well because of a poor script.”Komal Nahta, Trade Analyst
'Sikandar' Shows Cancelled In Some Indian Cities: Reports
After Sikandar's release, the film's shows in cities like Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore were cancelled due to low footfall, a source told Bollywood Hungama.
Kiritbhai T Vaghasia, who runs The Friday Cinema multiplex in Surat, told the publication, “Not a single ticket was sold for the 9:00 am and 10:00 am shows on Monday. I was hoping there would be more audience for this film on Eid. Instead, we sold more tickets on Sunday, the day of the release. I guess the word of mouth spread faster, resulting in such dismal numbers on Monday.”
Meanwhile, the report adds, Mumbai's iconic Gaiety-Galaxy increased the number of shows for Khan's Sikandar. Nahta suggests that the film's shows have been cancelled because 'exhibitors had gone haywire while allotting shows.
"Shows have been canceled because exhibitors had gone haywire in allotting shows, because no film was doing well, Chhaava was on it’s way out, so every show was running to empty house. So, whatever was available they gave it to Sikandar. They allotted more shows than the film could handle and therefore this was bound to happen."Komal Nahta, Trade Expert
Reports suggest shows have been reduced from 8000 to 7000 across India.
“Every 15 mins there’s a show in a multiplex. Let’s not run down the film because shows were cancelled, they deserved to be cancelled because it was an overkill. Where the film deserved 20 shows, they gave it 37 shows," Nahta adds.