Superstar Salman Khan has responded sharply to filmmaker AR Murugadoss’s remarks about his alleged late arrivals on the sets of Sikandar. While the film underperformed at the box office, Salman maintained that he had no regrets about doing it, saying the story was strong despite its outcome.
Salman addresses criticism on Bigg Boss 19
During the Weekend Ka Vaar episode of Bigg Boss 19, comedian Ravi Gupta asked Salman if he regretted any of his films. Salman mentioned Suryavanshi and Nishchay from the early 1990s but refused to include Sikandar in that list.
“People say it could be Sikandar, but I don’t agree. The plot was good,” Salman said.
He then took a sarcastic dig at Murugadoss, who had previously claimed that Salman’s habit of arriving on set late affected the shoot.
“I used to reach the set by 9 PM — that became an issue. My ribs were broken, but our director said otherwise. Recently, he made a film (Madharaasi) where the actor reached by 6,” Salman quipped.
“They all tried to escape the blame”
Salman also hinted that both Murugadoss and producer Sajid Nadiadwala tried to distance themselves from Sikandar after it failed to meet expectations.
“Initially, it was Murugadoss and Sajid’s film. Then Sajid backed out, and Murugadoss went back South to make another movie,” Salman said, smiling as he took another jab: “He directed Madharaasi — a very big film, even bigger than Sikandar.”
What Murugadoss said earlier
In an interview with Valaipechu Voice, AR Murugadoss had cited Salman’s late-night schedule as a major challenge during filming.
“Even day scenes had to be shot at night because he arrived after 8 PM. We had to shoot scenes with kids at 2 AM — they would fall asleep,” he said, adding, “The story was emotional, but I couldn’t execute it well.”
About Sikandar
Released earlier this year, Sikandar starred Salman Khan as Sanjay Rajkot, a king who sets out to protect three people in Mumbai who received organ donations from his late wife, played by Rashmika Mandanna. Despite its ambitious storyline and a reported ₹200 crore budget, the film earned only ₹185 crore worldwide, according to Sacnilk, and was deemed one of Salman’s weakest releases in recent years.