Sikandar

Sikandar is an Indian action thriller, directed by A.R. Murugadoss, which tells the story of an underdog hero fighting against corruption (most other plot details have been kept a surprise until the film’s release). This teaser (the film’s second) has great energy and strong editing, with musical elements that connect it to Hollywood action music history–particularly 1970s blaxploitation films–blended seamlessly with Bollywood and Indian pop nuances. The music for this teaser was created by veteran Indian composer/songwriter Yuvan Shankar Raja.

The logo for the production company (Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment) appears on screen at the start as we hear a husky baritone voiceover from the title character (Salman Khan). We first see a smoky silhouette of the Sikandar (Persian word for defender or warrior) at 0:04, accompanied by pulsing low drums, growling synths and soaring vocals. We cut to a car chase at 0:10 and the music grows in volume and intensity before an explosion at 0:14 (synchronized to the downbeat of the music) takes over, momentarily wiping out the music.

A fight sequence begins at 0:17, making use of Guy Ritchie-esque slow motion while also employing the benefits of the pause-burst-pause approach used in martial arts action films. From 0:18-0:26 we have all manner of drum sounds, many electronically processed to slowly rise in pitch, a build-up technique commonly heard in EDM.

At 0:27 a pick-up from the horn section segues into the next musical section, as we cut to Sikandar in a punching match (synched to the beat) on a private jet. The music now combines a stylistic drum groove and horn section familiar to American funk music, with high pitched offbeat accents sometimes found in Bollywood dance music. After we see a state leader on a balcony, the same horn section pick-up returns, leading us into another fight sequence (0:36). Sikandar is back on the ground, in bright daylight fighting in a palace courtyard with a battle axe.

Now, while this is an action thriller, it’s still Bollywood, so after we meet Saisri’s character (Rashmika Mandanna) on screen at 0:40, we get a glimpse of two of this film’s dance sequences that have both already been released as music videos (first “Bam Bam Bhole” then “Zohra Jabeen”). After these dance scene clips, we have another shot of Saisri at 0:43 and her line of dialogue is synched and in tune with the background track as if it were a song lyric. Nice!

We are back to Sikandar’s punch-up on the private jet at 0:45 as the music kicks into high gear and here the funky groove with trumpet melody is loosely reminiscent of ‘70s blaxploitation scores (i.e. Isaac Hayes’ theme from Shaft), or even Bill Conti’s theme from Rocky. Then at 0:52, to build up the energy, the drums sweep upwards again until 0:56 at the cut to the title card, after which the trumpet riff gradually echoes away.

To bookend this teaser, the final 20 seconds return to the husky voiceover, with sparse musical gestures linking back to elements from earlier parts of the teaser’s soundtrack.

Sikandar hits theatres in India on March 28, just in time for Eid.

— Jack Hui Litster