When one heads to watch a Suriya film one expects a well-treated movie replete with all the strappings of what it takes to make a hit. But with Sikandar, which has been touted as Suriya’s biggest release till date, this image might be slightly dented. While the film has everything it takes to make a good gangster revenge drama, what Sikandar lacks is good screenplay. Despite the slips and slides, Suriya is the saving grace with his good looks.
The film opens with a crutch-bearing Krishna (Suriya) arriving in Mumbai from Vizag in search of his elder brother Raju (also played by Suriya). As he goes around the bustling metro looking for leads to find his brother, he comes across a number of small-time goondas who reveal that Raju is in fact, a local gangster, a feared but well-respected one at that. As his search continues he finally comes across a travel agent, who had been working with Raju Bhai and his associate Chandu (Vidyut Jamwal). What follows is a flashback where it is revealed that Raju and Chandu are joined at the hip. Even other dons like J.K. (Dalip Tahil) are afraid of them. As the duo go about conducting their underworld business, a new police commissioner gets hot on their chase. To put a halt to his shenanigans Raju kidnaps his daughter Jeeva (Samantha) a day before her wedding, but soon releases her once her father releases Raju’s associates.
As Raju and Jeeva keep crossing paths love blossoms. One day Raju and Chandu lock horns with Mumbai’s biggest don Imran Bhai (Manoj Bajpai). That is when things go downhill. Betrayed by a few of their associates – Amar, Johny and Manoj – Chandu is bumped off in Raju’s absence. An inconsolable Raju figures out that Imran is responsible for his closest friend’s death and wants to kill him, when Amar stops him and shoots him too. It is now up to Krishna to hunt down the traitors and Imran. It is from here that the film finally picks up pace.
Sikandar is a predictable gangster revenge drama that is treated with a lot of style. There are plenty of punches thrown around, bullets pumped and conspiracy theories with a romantic track thrown in to amp up the entertainment quotient. But the film loses out to its lacklustre screenplay. Suriya as the gangster looks quite stylish and carries off his role with élan, Vidyut Jamwal as Chandu is good too. Samantha has to play the glam doll and she does that with ease. Her chemistry with Suriya is fresh and pleasant. Manoj Bajpai as Imran Bhai is at his usual best.
But Suriya and Sikandar are let down by the script that spends just way too much time in the first half to build up and establish its characters. Director N. Linguamy could have easily trimmed the film by at least 30 minutes and infused it with a faster pace.
With a great crew that includes cutting edge cinematography by Santosh Sivan, peppy tracks by Yuvan Shankar Raja and some top of the line actors from the South and Bollywood there was a lot more Lingusamy could have done with this film. Unfortunately, it falls short of expectations. Do watch it for Suriya though, who carries the film on his shoulders.
