The wait is almost over for Salman Khan’s fans as his upcoming film, Sikandar, hits theaters on March 30. The movie has received a U/A certificate from the censor board with no cuts. However, the makers have decided to trim down the film by 14 minutes and 28 seconds, resulting in several scenes being edited out.
According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, the makers have shortened 26 scenes in the film just before its release. Fortunately, the action scenes that have been generating buzz among fans remain untouched.
Some of the scenes that have been edited include a dialogue where Salman says “Offer aukat ke bahar tha,” which has been removed entirely. Other scenes, such as the ones with dialogues “Chaarr missed calls… chalo Rajkot,” “Usey leke aata hoon,” and “Aa gaye aa gaye… bure pati,” have been shortened by 2 minutes 26 seconds, 1 minute 12 seconds, and 4 minutes, respectively.
In another scene, Salman is seen humming the tune “Ajeeb dastaan hai ye…,” which has been reduced by 11 seconds. Additionally, a scene with the dialogue “Ye sirf sample tha” has been cut short by 40 seconds.
Earlier, the censor board had suggested two minor changes to the film, including removing the word “home” from the term “home minister” and blurring a political party’s banner in one scene. The film’s runtime is 2 hours 30 minutes and 8 seconds.
Sikandar, directed by A.R. Murugadoss, stars Salman Khan alongside Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sharman Joshi, Satyaraj, Prateik Babbar, and Anjini Dhawan. The production budget is estimated to be around 200 crore rupees, excluding Salman’s fee. Advance booking for the film began on March 25, and it has already grossed 6.6 crore rupees in pre-sales within the first 24 hours.
In a recent interview with ETimes, director A.R. Murugadoss shared his experience of working with Salman Khan. He revealed that the film’s sets often had between 10,000 to 20,000 people, requiring high security and coordination. Due to security concerns, Salman’s protection was increased, and the daily checking process for extras and junior cast members would take around 2-3 hours.
Murugadoss mentioned that the biggest challenge was the delayed start of filming due to Salman’s arrival and the subsequent checking process, which would often take up a significant part of the day. However, once the team got accustomed to the routine, things fell into place.