By going on record about Salman Khan’s unruly conduct on the sets of Sikandar — including turning up hours late and keeping child actors awake till 2 am — director A.R. Murugadoss has once again shed light on a long-standing malaise in Bollywood: the lack of discipline and dedication among some of its biggest superstars.
Murugadoss’ stance on Salman Khan’s indiscipline opens a ‘Pandora’s Box’ on star tantrums
A director who has previously worked with Salman corroborates Murugadoss’s claims. “Murugadoss is absolutely right. Salman Khan never arrives on set before 2–3 pm for the morning shift. He then has his lunch, takes a nap, and shooting doesn’t begin before 5 pm. Most filmmakers find it impossible to work with him. But producers like Sajid Nadiadwala allow Salman to do what he likes. He has never been given a reason to change his ways.”
This isn’t the first time Salman’s indiscipline has cost a project. In 2019, Sanjay Leela Bhansali shelved the Salman-starrer Inshallah after repeated interference and delays from the actor. Bhansali, who had earlier collaborated with Salman on two of his finest works — Khamoshi and Hum… Dil De Chuke Sanam — took the instant decision to call off the film and vowed never to work with him again.
Although Salman and Bhansali remain close friends, the filmmaker has drawn a professional line. In 2022, when Salman pitched a film that would unite him and Shah Rukh Khan under Bhansali’s direction, the director refused outright. His stance was blunt: “Shah Rukh, yes. Salman, never!”
But Salman is hardly the first superstar to gain notoriety for tardiness and indiscipline. Before him, Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar, and Shatrughan Sinha were repeat offenders.
Sharmila Tagore, who worked extensively with all three, recalls, “If I was shooting with Kaka (Rajesh Khanna), Haribhai (Sanjeev Kumar), or Shatru (Shatrughan Sinha), I made sure I reached for the morning shift only after lunch, or sometimes much later. It was annoying at first to wait for hours, but after working with them repeatedly, I got used to their eccentric timings.”
Shatrughan Sinha, however, defends himself, “I had an acute low blood pressure problem for which I had to do yoga every morning. Combined with late nights, that made me arrive late. But once I came on set, I never left until my work was done. Haven’t my heroines confirmed this? The great Dilip Kumar saab once gave me the lesson of a lifetime during the shooting of Kranti. I came at my usual SST (Shatru Standard Time), and as I entered, I saw him waving from his car as he left.”
In contrast, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Aamir Khan are famously punctual. But for many others, late arrivals have been normalized.
Hema Malini, the only female star of her era who commanded as much clout as her male co-stars, refused to tolerate such behaviour, “With me, the notorious latecomers came on time. When one actor arrived three hours late on the first day of shooting, I told him I was going home. I warned that if he wasn’t punctual the next day, I would walk out of the film. He was on time the very next day,” she recalls.
Hema believes co-actors are partly to blame for superstar tantrums. “If the director and co-stars make it clear that such delays are unacceptable, stars would stop. It’s the industry’s silence that enables them.”
Murugadoss’s candid remarks may have stirred controversy, but they also highlight a long-suppressed truth about Bollywood’s star culture: punctuality and professionalism are optional for some, and non-negotiable for others.
More Pages: Sikandar Box Office Collection , Sikandar Movie Review
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