Star cast: Kartar Cheema, Gul Panag, Manav Vij, Yaad Grewal, Raj Jhinjher, Ajay Kumar, Victor John and Nishawn Bhullar

Director: Jatinder Mauhar

Producer: Poonam Pawar

Music: Davvy Singh and Gurmit Singh

Genre: Social Drama

Censor Details: A (Punjabi)

Synopsis: Sikander is the journey of a boy, Sikander (Cheema) who lands up in Chandigarh to join a political party and support his friends. But soon he finds himself in the middle of all things where he has to contest the President’s election. During their tenure, Sikander and his friends face variousproblems and find Beant (Gul Panag), Sikander’s ex-beau competing against them in the next elections due to some forced circumstances. The film talks about student politics, usage of drugs and relationships at colleges.

Script Analysis: Sikander – When the first promo of the film was released, I expected it to take Punjabi Cinema further to a next level where we will have films with deeper and meaningful stories to tell. But sadly Sikander isn’t that film and we will have to wait for some more time until Himmat Singh of 1984 – Punjab arrives. Coming back to Sikander, the film has a story to tell but unfortunately it hasn’t been told well.

Story by Jatinder Mauhar is good on paper but falls flat on screen. Although some of the portions were pretty convincing whereas others were purely dull. Screenplay was good to strictly average in parts depending upon how the scene was; in some scenes it was brilliant. The length of the film could have been increased by another 15 minutes; maybe it could have helped to tell the story in a better way. Dialogues were just about palatable with the film.

Direction and Music: In 2010 when I saw Mitti, I instantly became a Jatinder Mauhar fan and waited for his next film to arrive. Mauhar falls flat on the expectations, which he raised with his previous work. Although he has done an all right job but it could have been much better given the talent he has.

Music was strictly average in Sikander. It really did not do the trick for the film to create an immediate buzz and sadly none of the numbers are popular with the masses. But still I enjoyed listening Hootar (Lehmber being one of my fav.) Sikander in the film. Yaari te Sardari is another one which suited the pace of the film.

Star Performances: Kartar Cheema as Sikander was good and complimented his role well and can be a prospect for lead roles in future. His expressions conveyed a lot besides his dialogues. Gul Panag makes a confident debut in the Punjabi film industry. I won’t be surprised if she walks away with an award at PTC Awards next year. She was good with her Punjabi as well which is a problem with major Bollywood actresses doing Punjabi films. Victor John was all right.

Yaad Grewal stole the show. Punjabi Cinema was missing a villain like this from a very long time. He really has that in him to become an iconic villain in Punjabi Cinema if he gets a few more roles like these. Other supporting cast was strictly average to above average. Manav Vij was descent as always but could have been utilized in a better way. No impressive performances from the supporting cast this time around.

Suggestion – The film shows over excessive usage of various kinds of drugs by college students in daily life, which I myself being a student did not feel was appropriate given the theme of the film, which was Student Politics. I urge the filmmakers not to associate the usage of drugs with college students in daily life.

Final Say: Sikander becomes the victim of careless writing and some average direction. The movie could have been a landmark film in Punjabi Cinema had the story been matured well. The film reflects that gaining the stature and power is easy but it’s really not easy to maintain it. The film will be most enjoyed by the youth of Punjab.

Paisa Vasool – 50/100