AR Murugadoss on ‘Sikandar’: Salman Khan’s film ‘Sikandar’, which released earlier this year, failed to strike a chord with both critics and the audience. Despite its star-studded cast and high expectations, the film did not do well at the box office. Now, director AR Murugadoss has finally shared his thoughts on why the film didn’t work.
During the promotion of his upcoming movie ‘Madharaasi’, Murugadoss spoke about ‘Sikandar’’s poor performance. The popular filmmaker, known for hit action films, admitted that working in a language he is not fully comfortable with was one of the key reasons for the film’s downfall.
Murugadoss said that making films in one’s own language brings confidence and clarity.
“When we make films in our mother tongue, we know the culture, the people, and their emotions. But when you shift to another language, especially one you don’t understand well, it becomes difficult to connect,” he explained.
He pointed out that there is a huge difference between writing a script in Tamil or Telugu and then translating it into Hindi.
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“First, we write it in our language. Then it gets translated into English, and from there into Hindi. By then, the soul of the story may get lost. We can only assume what is being said in the final version, but we don’t always know how it sounds to a native speaker,” he said.
Murugadoss also added that when you are not familiar with the language or the setting of the film, it feels like working without full control. “It’s like you’re handicapped. You don’t have your hands. That’s how it felt while working on ‘Sikandar’. I realised that our strength lies in our own roots, our own language and culture.”
‘Sikandar’ was an action-drama featuring Salman Khan as Sanjay “Sikandar” Rajkot, a man trying to make up for a painful past by helping three strangers. His journey, however, puts him on the radar of a dangerous politician with a personal grudge.
The film had a strong supporting cast. It included Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sharman Joshi, Sathyaraj, Jatin Sarna, Sanjay Kapoor, Prateik Babbar, and Kishore. Despite this, the story didn’t connect with viewers the way the makers expected.