Three days before Sikandar’s release, the Salman Khan we meet is the same we’ve met all these years—soft-spoken, generous with his smile, and livening up conversations with his deadpan humour. On the surface, there is almost no sign of the turbulent 2024 that he has had. Except the heightened security around. When the superstar sits down with a group of media-persons, Sikandar is the first thing we talk about. Director AR Murugadoss, like his previous Bollywood hits Ghajini (2008) and Holiday (2015), has designed it as an actioner. “Till emotion is not attached to the action, it has no meaning. Otherwise, you can shoot fight scenes with a bunch of fighters. In Akshay [Kumar] and Aamir’s [Khan] films, the action was superb, as it is here too,” states Khan. 

The trade is hopeful that his maiden offering with Murugadoss will give the box-office that elusive blockbuster. But Khan jokes that this collaboration had an odd detractor in Ghajini actor Pradeep Rawat. “I’ve done five to six films with Pradeep. He had remarked once, ‘Murugadoss is so disciplined and sincere. How will Salman work with him? Salman gets angry easily.’ When I meet Pradeep, I’ll ask him, ‘Bhai, when did I get angry with you?’” he laughs.