Bollywood

Sikandar Ka Muqaddar review: Neeraj Pandey’s Tom and Jerry-esque thriller is decent, far from perfect

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Sikandar Ka Muqaddar offers a gripping storyline featuring Avinash Tiwary and Tamannaah Bhatia. While the film starts strong, it loses momentum midway.

Neeraj Pandey knows his audience. He likes to keep them guessing in his thrillers- from Baby (2015), to Special 26 (2013). His last theatrical release Auron Kein Kahaan Dum Tha, took it a notch higher.

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by making you guess what happened to the filmmaker who could otherwise weave an engaging story. An excruciatingly slow watch, it suffered from an identity crisis: was it a romantic drama, or a thriller, or a daily soap parading around as a film? Thankfully, Pandey is back to what he does best, with Sikandar Ka Muqaddar.

Sikandar Ka Muqaddar: The plot

The film stars Avinash Tiwary as the protagonist Sikandar, Tamannaah Bhatia as his wife Kamini and Jimmy Shergill as cop Jaswinder Singh. The story: some diamonds are stolen from a jewellery exhibition, where Sikandar, Kamini and Mangesh Desai (played by Rajeev Mehta) are held as prime suspects by Jaswinder.

Sikandar’s entire life is turned upside down, despite not being proven guilty. He marries Kamini, a single mother and she falls sick one day. He is even expelled from jobs. Basically, his ‘muqaddar’ is a character in itself here. He had promised Jaswinder that he will apologise one day, for not trusting his innocenc rest of the plot.

The film begins on an urgent note. You are sucked into the world Panday creates (also the writer), and really want to know who stole the diamonds. He knows just how much information he needs to give to the viewers at a given point, to leave them intrigued. It works.

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And it fell apart

But somewhere around the halfway point, the film’s tone suddenly changes, and things slow down. From being a thriller about who executed the robbery, the focus completely shifts to Sikandar’s woes. This might not go down well with some viewers, purely because things started on a pacy note.

A common problem shared by his last film Auron Mein Kahaan… and this one is— Neeraj doesn’t know where to end his film. He keeps adding so much that it takes a lot of time to tie the loose ends eventually.

Avinash tries hard to bring Sikandar to life, and he nearly succeeds. The story is riding on the Tom and Jerry equation between him and Jimmy, and he rises to the occasion. Shergill does what he does best: it’s interesting how the man has managed to create a space for himself even with multiple cop/ gangster roles till date. Tamannaah lends good support to the story.

Overall, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar, is a decent thriller. I like the wordplay in the title, which you eventually realise subverts Muqaddar ka Sikandar. If only Neeraj had resisted burdening the film with a lot of things. It streams on Netflix from November 29.

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The performances, especially by the lead actors, are decent, but the screenplay lacks the sharpness and tension needed to elevate the plot. While the characters keep viewers interested, the predictable twists and pacing issues hold the film back from achieving greatness. The movie doesn’t delve deep enough into character development, which could have added layers to the story.

Overall, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar provides a watchable experience for fans of the thriller genre, but it ultimately fails to leave a lasting impact. Its Tom-and-Jerry-like cat-and-mouse chase sequences bring moments of fun, but they don’t make up for the film’s inconsistencies.

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