Salman Khan’s latest release, Sikandar, has failed to impress the audience, and due to its poor performance, it has also forced theatre owners to replace it with other films. Sikandar was pulled down from several theatres across Mumbai after the weekend and was replaced with Empuraan, The Diplomat and even Gujarati movies.
According to reports, the evening and night shows of Sikandar in Kandivali’s INOX, Raghuleela Mall, have been replaced by the Gujarati film, Umbarro. The 9:30 pm show of Sikandar on April 1 at the theatre was cancelled and was replaced by another Gujarati film, titled The Best Pandya. This is because playing the Gujarati films is reportedly more profitable for the theatre owners than screening Sikandar.
The 5:30 pm and 9:30 pm shows at Cinepolis Seawoods and PVR, Orion Mall have also been replaced by Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s film, Empuraan, which despite being embroiled in controversies has more viewers than Sikandar.
The 8 pm show of Sikandar at INOX Nariman Point and 8:30 pm show at the iconic Metro INOX theatre have now been replaced by John Abraham’s film, The Diplomat, which released on March 14.
Several hyped and big-budget films in the past met similar fate after they failed to impress fans. These films include Varun Dhawan’s Baby John, Rajinikanth’s Lal Salaam, Kangana Ranaut’s Tejas, among others.
Mounted on a budget of Rs 200 crore, Sikandar was one of the most anticipated films of the year, however, it failed to meet the expectations of the audience. The film had a dismal start at the box office with Rs 26 crore on its first day, and while it saw a slight uptick with Rs 29 crore on its second day, it tanked by more than 30 per cent on Day 3, as it made only Rs 19.50 crore on Tuesday.
The total box office collection of Sikandar now stands at Rs 74.50 crore.
Sikandar also stars Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sharman Joshi, Prateik Babbar and Sathyaraj in key roles. It marks Salman’s first collaboration with Ghajini AR Murugadoss, who gave India its first Rs 100 crore film.
