The Movie is a Tad Slow But Worth Watching Once.

By MovieTalkies.com, 21 August 2009 2.5 / 5

The film starts capturing the serene valley and the locals going about their chores, when all of a sudden a blast takes place. A very good start to keep the audience captivated, however the momentum is lost as the movie proceeds. 'Sikandar' is about a school going boy passionate about football, played by Parzan Dastur and how he stumbles upon a gun one day, and falls prey to using it without any malicious intentions. Through the course of the movie a lot of mystery unravels slowly, to uncover how an innocent boy is exploited by people who are in position and how unintentionally someone who is gullible can fall prey to the politics played by selfish politicians. The star cast is decent with R. Madhavan as Lt. Colonel Rajesh P. Rao, Sanjay Suri as Mukhtaar Mattoo, newcomer Arunoday Singh as Zaheer Quadir and Ayesha Kapur as Nasreen. The music of the movie has been compiled by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Justin Uday and Sandesh Shandilya. Not an out an out chart buster album but the songs of the movie are decent and hummable. The background score almost doesn't stop even for a second, though the alaap in the background sometimes gets to your head. The film has few dialogues and mostly expressions and music play an important role in the turn of events throughout the movie, making it a slow paced movie. Madhavan is impressive but he should try to branch out from the SRK mode adding more volume to his acting. Sanjay Suri is average, Parzan is good and sticks to his trade mark expressions, he used to have as a child actor, Ayesha who has turn out to be a 'Pretty Young Thing', needs to work on her dialogue delivery and often her expressions are blank. But the surprise of the film was newcomer Arunoday Singh, who impresses in his short role. He is probably the only one to get the Kashmiri accent bang on, you wished though, that to make it look more authentic the other characters too should have worked on the local accent other than speaking Urdu. If you are an Abbas Mastan fan you may end up liking this movie as it has a lot of twists and turns, some quite predictable though. Especially the blast which takes place towards the climax, which gives an unsuspecting audience a shock. Good cinematography by Somak Mukherjee as he explores the beauty of the valley to the optimum. The busy streets, the landscapes, the lush green spots, the foggy mornings all look quite picturesque. The story by Piyush Jha has a point and a message too, however one feels that the message is not communicated and cascaded that well. Too many abrupt happenings leave you confused at times and clueless about the turn of events, only to be sorted out in the climax. Parzan is in a dilemma throughout the movie as he is quite obsessed with his new toy, a real gun, found by him on his way to school, and how a shy boy bullied in school is overpowered by the power a gun has and his fight to overcome the bad and try to come out clean is quite commendable. A good and sensitive subject, which should have been handled more sensibly. There was more scope for the director Piyush Jha to send out the message clear and loud to the audience. Like all movies good wins over evil. The movie is a tad slow but worth watching once.

Music Loves Up to its Promise

By MovieTalkies.com, 20 April 2009 2.5 / 5

Much has already been written about Piyush Jha's third directorial offering, Sikander. The film which is set in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, explores the insidious manner in which children are lured into violence by terrorists. The film stars child actors Parzaan Dastur and Ayesha Kapur supported by R Madhavan and Sanjay Suri. Jha has always made films which have been slightly off the beaten track like the King Of Bollywood (2004) and Chalo America (1999), both of which had a story to tell. With Sikander, it seems that Jha may have hit a jackpot. Sikander which has been produced by Sudhir Mishra, has Justin Uday as its main music composer and Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Sandesh Shandilya as guest composers. With three musical sensibilities working on the movie, different elements like soft rock, sufi and folk have been merged together to create a soundtrack which stands out for its sensitivity and freshness. The proceedings are kicked off by Shankar Ehsaan Loy's 'Dhoop Ke Sikke,' a soft rock number, which has been rendered beautifully by Anushka Mani and Shankar. The young Mani manages to keep pace with Shankar and acquits herself very well indeed. One of the highlights of this number is the soft rendering of sargams by Shankar. This soft rock offering by the composers has them incorporating a lot of Eastern influences as well. Written by Prasoon Joshi, this feel good number is undoubtedly the best in the album. The song has a fresh feeling to it, quite akin to the ambience of the Kashmir valley. The good work seems to be followed by Justin Uday's 'Gulon Mein' (serene version), the second number of the album. Last heard in the highly forgettable Hijack, the duo have really stretched themselves and come up with a terrific number, which has been sung equally well by Mohit Chauhan. This emotional number occurs once more in the album, but this time in an upbeat version, which has been composed by Sandesh Shandilya and sung by KK. The lyrics of this number have been written by Neelesh Mishra. Shandilya's version seems to outdo Justin Uday as he tops it with a really breezy reworking. Both Mohit and KK have done a brilliant job with their renditions in the two versions of the song. There is little to choose between the vocal prowess both these accomplished singers. Taking a break from secular matters is the traditional, devotional number, 'Arzoo' which has been sung by Mehrajuddin. The unconventional vocals seem to go very well with the mood of the number, which appears without any instrumental accompaniment. It is followed by the number 'Allah Hoo', a conventional track composed by Justin Uday. Sung by Hrishikesh Kamerkar and Yash Narvekar, 'Allah Hoo' has its moments, but on the whole is a little tedious. However, this takes away nothing from the vocals behind this song. The next number, 'Manzaraat' (lyrics Kumaar), impresses mostly due to the vocals of Shilpa Rao. But what lets down this number is the ordinary music composed by Justin Uday. The number is high on percussion and that's about the only thing the music has going for it. Shilpa's vocals seem to be wasted in this number. The last number on the album, 'Chaal Apni' which is sung by Hrishikesh Kamerkar and Hamsika Iyer, is a lighthearted, playful number but it fails to have the required impact again because of the mediocre music. The music of Sikander stands out for two numbers really, 'Dhoop Ke Sikke' and the two versions of 'Gulon Mein'. The other four tracks don't quite match up to the magic of these two. One is sure that the effect of the music will be enhanced following the experience of watching the film. But with the focus of the film really being its two child actors, the music will at best, provide a perfect backdrop for the action to unfold.

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