Setback for Salman Khan: 'Sikandar' shows pulled from THIS Mumbai theatre, Mohanlal's 'L2: Empuraan' takes its place in style

The buzz around Sikandar fizzled out quickly. What started with hype around its trailer and soundtrack has now turned into a box office letdown, prompting theatres across Mumbai to replace its shows with more profitable titles.

Despite high expectations from the AR Murugadoss directorial, audiences have responded coldly. According to the Free Press Journal, several theatres across Mumbai dropped Sikandar after the weekend, opting instead for films like Empuraan, The Diplomat, and popular Gujarati releases.

Evening and night slots at Kandivali’s INOX, Raghuleela Mall were among the first to be pulled. The 9:30 pm show of Sikandar on April 1 was replaced by Gujarati film The Best Pandya. Theatre owners said the decision was financial—Gujarati films were drawing better crowds.

At Cinepolis Seawoods and PVR Orion Mall, both the 5:30 pm and 9:30 pm Sikandar shows were swapped with L2: Empuraan, starring Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Despite facing its own controversies, Empuraan is outperforming the Salman Khan-Rashmika Mandanna starrer.

The situation was similar at INOX Nariman Point and Metro INOX, where John Abraham’s The Diplomat took over Sikandar’s prime time slots.

Released on March 30, Sikandar was positioned as one of Bollywood’s biggest projects of 2025, with a reported budget of ₹200 crore and filming locations in Hyderabad and Mumbai. The cast also includes Kajal Aggarwal, Sharman Joshi, Prateik Babbar, and Sathyaraj.

Despite the build-up, the film has collected just ₹84.25 crore crore in its first few days, falling short of expectations. It now joins the list of hyped but underwhelming releases like Tejas, Lal Salaam, and Baby John.