‘Sikandar Ka Muqaddar’ Netflix Movie Review - Neeraj Pandey Continues Shooting Himself in the Foot

It all begins with a lot of promise. As the camera smoothly tracked the people on the screen busy organizing an event, I thought Neeraj Pandey, after a very long time, was finally getting comfortable with the visual medium. The mechanical efficiency of Neeraj Pandey, the director, sucking you in with long, unbroken shots (cinematography by Arvind Singh), is quite appealing to the senses. As the story progressed, I grew more confident that Pandey had finally returned with a bang, thanks to intriguing material. His Sikandar Ka Muqaddar is about a diamond heist and the subsequent investigations, but what's fascinating is not the crime but its effect on three individuals - Mangesh (Rajeev Mehta), Kamini (Tamannaah Bhatia), and Sikandar (Avinash Tiwary). Jaswinder (Jimmy Shergill), the hotshot police officer with a 100% Detection record, is convinced that all three or one of the three characters is the criminal. The suspects, of course, plead innocent. Jaswinder is proud of his solid instincts, which have never let him down. Currently, they tell him to focus more on Sikandar. Jaswinder finds something about him off, given how quickly he wanted to exit the scene of the crime - the exhibition. Sikandar says he was simply concerned about his sick mother. Is this the truth? Is he responsible for stealing the red solitaires?

What, for the most part, keeps you invested in Sikandar Ka Muqaddar is the observation of a life ruined by an accusation. The law says, "Innocent until proven guilty." However, what actually happens is that we label a person guilty almost immediately, and that man or woman then spends a lot of time and resources to present proof regarding his/her innocence. Mangesh has been working in his company for 32 years, yet his boss doesn't lend him his support when he is arrested. Sikandar loses his job and is thrown out of his house because of the legal complications. Kamini, on the other hand, is simply used as a dispenser of sad, worried expressions. Her personal problems aren't accentuated enough. She has a kid and a little sister. How does she look after them? Kamini often mentions she has saved some money, which comes across as an unconvincing excuse the movie makes to put more spotlight on Sikandar. The movie is more interested in him, so it does everything it can to brush aside other concerns. Sikandar's problems, too, are sometimes solved with the wave of a wand, thanks to a friend who seems to have unlimited job contacts. He can single-handedly remove unemployment from India.

We have seen Shergill many times in this form before, and though he doesn't do anything that surprises you here, he still manages to be magnetic and wonderful, especially with a beard. Tiwary is consistently excellent, effectively rendering Sikandar's pain palpable. We, along with him, experience a sense of relief during the scene where he breaks down after talking to Jaswinder on the phone. Pandey, with writer Vipul K. Rawal, tries to undermine the moment with humor, but Tiwary's performance holds everything together. Sikandar Ka Muqaddar looks superb when it punctures the image of the Great Filmy Cop - the onscreen superhero in uniform who thinks he can never be wrong (think Singham). Jaswinder's so-called intuition lands Sikandar into so many troubles that he thinks of committing suicide at one point. You think Pandey is exposing the flaws of the police officers who, more often than not, abuse their power.

But alas, this is not the Pandey who made A Wednesday years ago. That version of this filmmaker has disappeared into oblivion. The Pandey we saw recently in Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha appears again in Sikandar Ka Muqaddar. Meaning: The director takes a promising material and destroys its potential. Pandey spoils all the notions regarding the abuse of power by police officers by satisfying the desires of a mainstream audience. He enters conventional territories by hitting us with twists that, after a while, stop caring if they sound believable. Pandey also gives us a portrait of two men so driven by their egos that they lose all contact with basic human emotions. Their personal and professional lives collapse due to their craving to be the right, the most intelligent person in the room. Such a heavy subject feels out of place in a film that suddenly comes up with a "quirky" text like "The End. Oops..." Sikandar Ka Muqaddar lacks cohesion. Its structure is a complete mess. The 2-hour and 23-minute runtime is too long for a story like this. The movie takes up so much time because Pandey has lost his storytelling gift. What Pandey's recent works tell us about him is that he likes to shoot himself in the foot. Give him the ingredients to create a masterpiece, and he will churn out a mediocre product.

Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times