India, March 30 -- The trailer for Sikandar dropped barely a week before its release. Now there could be three reasons--one, a marketing strategy to sustain the maximum buzz till the release day. Second, the film was being shot till a few days ago, which one hears was also true. The third--and the frightening one--the makers weren't confident. I leaned towards the third possibility as I exited the theatre after a 150-minute runtime. (Also Read | Sikandar box office prediction: Salman Khan film lags behind Vicky Kaushal's Chhaava, won't be able to beat Stree 2)

Salman Khan headlining an action film was once a formula for guaranteed success. However, Sikandar falls considerably short of the promised popcorn entertainment, hampered by a fun...