Salman Khan’s Sikandar, fronted by a superstar and having Ghajini (2008) director AR Murugadoss in the director’s chair, failed to impress audiences. Now, in a recent interview with Valaipechu Voice, Murugadoss took responsibility for the film’s underperformance, stating that he was unable to execute his vision for the movie.

Explaining how the film’s story was “emotional” the director said, “Actually, the base story is very emotional. It’s about a king who doesn’t truly understand his wife. We are all like that — whether it’s with our mother, friend, or wife, we often don’t value relationships. Only when someone leaves us forever do we feel the weight of guilt.”

“In the film, when the king loses his wife, her organs are donated to three different people. He then seeks them out, trying to fulfil the things he couldn’t do for her. In the process, he befriends an entire village. The story was emotional, but I couldn’t execute it well,” he added.

Comparing Salman’s Sikandar and Aamir Khan’s Ghajini, Murugadoss reflected on why the latter had succeeded but the former failed. “I could pull off Ghajini because it was a remake, not an original script. I had already done it before, so I had complete command. With Sikandar, that wasn’t the case. I’m not saying I won’t return to Hindi cinema; I definitely will if I find my comfort zone. But when the audience can’t connect with my thinking, it affects me deeply,” he said.

Ghajini marked Murugadoss’s Hindi directorial debut. It was a remake of his own Tamil film of the same name and starred Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat. The film was a massive blockbuster, earning Rs 194.10 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹52 crore.

Sikandar, on the other hand, was made on a budget of about Rs 200 crore but could only rake in Rs 184.89 crore at the worldwide box office. Apart from Salman, the film also starred Rashmika Mandanna, Sathyaraj and Sharman Joshi, among others.