Synopsis
The film is set in 326 B.C. when Alexander
the Great aka Sikander (Kapoor) having conquered
Persia and the Kabul valley descends to
the Indian Border at Jhelum. King Porus
(Modi) stops the advance with his troops.
Sikander ignores his teacher Aristotle's
advice and falls for a Persian woman Rukhsana
(Vanamala). Fearing for Sikander's life
she extracts a promise from Porus that he
will not harm Sikander. In the battle with
the Macedonian army Porus loses his son
and is captured. An elaborate verbal duel
follows in court when Porus is brought before
Sikander. Impressed by Porus's valour, the
two kings become friends. Sikander lets
Porus go and withdraws from the Jhelum.
The film
Sikander
was the greatest success of Minerva Movietone,
which specialized, in historic spectacles.
Its lavish mounting, huge sets and production
values equals the Best of Hollywood then
particularly for its rousing and spectacular
battle scenes and was rated by a British
writer as...
"…well
up to the standard of that old masterpiece
The Birth of a Nation." 
The
film follows pure Parsee theatre using frontal
composition and staging the narrative in
spatial layers. Its dramatic, declamatory
dialogues give both Prithviraj
Kapoor and Sohrab Modi
free reign to their histrionic proclivities.
It is Prithviraj's best known performance.
He makes a handsome, dashing Sikander and
the film heightens his enduring reputation
for playing royalty, enhanced further by
his role as Akbar in Mughal-e-Azam
(1960).
The
release of the film coincided with World
War II at its peak and in India too the
political atmosphere was tense, following
Gandhiji's call to Civil Disobedience. Sikander
further aroused patriotic feelings and national
sentiment. Thus though Sikander was
approved by the Bombay censor board, it
was later banned from some of the theatres
serving army cantonments. However its appeal
to nationalism was so great and direct,
it remained popular for years. It was revived
in Delhi in 1961 during the Indian March
into Goa.
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