Rashmika Mandanna Says That The Original Script of Salman Khan’s 'Sikandar' Was “Quite Different”

In an interview with the Telugu YouTube channel Prema The Journalist, actor Rashmika Mandanna spoke about how the script of her Salman Khan-starrer Sikandar evolved over the course of production. Speaking in Telugu, Mandanna said that the version of the film she was initially narrated was “indeed quite a different script” from what eventually made it to the screen.

She added that such changes are commonplace in filmmaking. “When you listen to a story, it is one version of it,” she said. “But over the making of a film, things change — according to performances, edits, and even the time of release. That’s very common. That happened with Sikandar.”

Directed by A.R. Murugadoss and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, Sikandar starred Salman Khan, Rashmika Mandanna and Sathyaraj. The film released late last year to mixed-to-negative reviews and went on to underperform at the box office.

The film’s troubled reception was followed by controversy after Murugadoss spoke publicly about the challenges of accommodating Khan’s shooting schedule. In an interview with the Tamil YouTube channel Valaipechu Voice, given ahead of the release of his other 2025 film Madharasi, the filmmaker said, “It’s not easy to shoot with a star. Even day scenes, we had to shoot at night because he would come to the sets only by 8 pm.”

Murugadoss added that the altered schedule often took a toll on the rest of the cast and crew. “We are used to shooting from early mornings, but that’s not how things work there,” he said. Recalling a specific instance, the director noted, “If there were four children in a scene, we would be shooting with them at 2 am — even if the scene was meant to show them returning from school. By then, they were exhausted and would often fall asleep.”

Despite being one of the most anticipated Hindi releases of last year, Sikandar failed to find favour with critics or audiences.