AR Murugadoss Says Filming Sikandar With Salman Khan Wasn’t Easy: 'He Turns Up On Set By 8 PM'
Salman Khan’s action-packed film Sikandar may not have hit the mark at the box office, but its director, AR Murugadoss, has shared candid insights about the challenges of collaborating with the star.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s action-packed film Sikandar may not have hit the mark at the box office, but its director, AR Murugadoss, has shared candid insights about the challenges of collaborating with the star. Speaking to Valaipechu Voice, the filmmaker offered a behind-the-scenes look at his experience on set.
The challenges of shooting with Salman Khan
Murugadoss revealed that working with Salman came with its unique hurdles, particularly due to the actor’s unconventional schedule. “It’s not easy to shoot with a star. Even day scenes, we have to shoot at night because he turns up on set only by 8 PM. We are used to shooting right from early mornings, but that’s not how things work there,” he explained.
The director also highlighted the impact on other cast members, especially children: “If there were four kids in a scene, we would have to shoot with them at 2 AM, even if it’s the shot of them returning from school! They would become tired by that time and usually dozed off.”
Sikandar marked Murugadoss’s return to Hindi cinema after a nine-year gap. His previous Bollywood outing, Akira, a remake of the 2011 Tamil film Mouna Guru, starred Sonakshi Sinha, Anurag Kashyap, and Konkona Sen Sharma but failed to make a mark at the box office, earning only ₹43.90 crore against a ₹30 crore budget.
About Sikandar
In Sikandar, Salman Khan plays Sanjay “Sikandar” Rajkot, a man forced by personal tragedy to protect three individuals whose lives were forever changed by his late wife’s actions—putting him in the crosshairs of a vengeful politician. The film also stars Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sathyaraj, Sharman Joshi, and Prateik Babbar. Despite the star-studded cast, Sikandar received mixed-to-negative reviews and struggled commercially, collecting ₹184.6 crore worldwide against a reported budget of ₹200 crore.
Salman Khan’s upcoming project
Looking ahead, Salman is gearing up for Apoorva Lakhia’s Battle of Galwan, a highly anticipated war film based on the 2020 Galwan Valley clash between India and China. Speaking at a recent Mumbai event about the physical demands of the project, Salman said, “It is physically demanding. Every year, every month, every day it gets more and more difficult. I have to give more time now (for training). Earlier, I would do it in one or two weeks; now I’m running, kicking, punching, and all that stuff. This film demands that.”
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