# Muqaddar Ka Sikandar
**Muqaddar Ka Sikandar** (मुक़द्दर का सिकन्दर, "The Emperor of Fate") is a 1978 Hindi-language drama film produced and directed by [Prakash Mehra](https://www.edgepedia.org/prakash-mehra), starring [Amitabh Bachchan](https://www.edgepedia.org/amitabh-bachchan) as an orphan who rises from poverty while carrying an unfulfilled love[1](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/muqaddar-ka-sikandar.html) • [2](http://rupkatha.com/V13/n1/v13n136.pdf). It was released on 27 October 1978 and became the highest-grossing Hindi film of that year[1](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/muqaddar-ka-sikandar.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 27 October 1978, Hindi language, drama genre[1](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/muqaddar-ka-sikandar.html) |
| Director and producer | Prakash Mehra, under his own banner Prakash Mehra Productions[3](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%2520of%2520Indian%2520Cinema.pdf) |
| Writers | Story by Laxmikant Sharma, screenplay by Vijay Kaul, dialogues by Kader Khan[3](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%2520of%2520Indian%2520Cinema.pdf) |
| Music | Kalyanji-Anandji; lyrics by Anjaan and Prakash Mehra[4](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/) |
| Lead cast | Amitabh Bachchan (Sikandar), Vinod Khanna (Vishal Anand), Rakhee (Kaamna), Rekha (Zohrabai)[4](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/) |
| Runtime | 182 minutes per one database[5](https://3rabica.org/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D9%83%D8%A7_%D8%B3%D9%83%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1); 189 minutes (3 h 9 m) per the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema and Rotten Tomatoes[3](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%2520of%2520Indian%2520Cinema.pdf) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/muqaddar_ka_sikandar) |
| Box office | Highest-grossing Hindi film of 1978[1](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/muqaddar-ka-sikandar.html) |
## Production and credits
Prakash Mehra produced, directed, and co-wrote lyrics for the film under his banner Prakash Mehra Productions[3](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%2520of%2520Indian%2520Cinema.pdf). The writing credits are divided three ways: Laxmikant Sharma for the story, Vijay Kaul for the screenplay, and [Kader Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kader-khan) for the dialogues[3](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%2520of%2520Indian%2520Cinema.pdf). Kader Khan also appears on screen as the fakir Darvesh Baba[4](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/).
The supporting cast pairs Bachchan's contemporaries from across the industry: [Vinod Khanna](https://www.edgepedia.org/vinod-khanna) as Vishal Anand, Rakhee as Kaamna, Rekha as the dancer Zohrabai, Amjad Khan as Dilawar, Nirupa Roy as Fatima, Shreeram Lagoo as the wealthy Ramanath, and [Sulochana Latkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sulochana-latkar) as Vishal's mother[4](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/). Mayur Verma plays the young Sikandar and Baby Shalu the young Kaamna[4](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/).
## Plot
Sikandar is a homeless orphan who survives on the streets doing whatever work he can find[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/muqaddar_ka_sikandar). He is taken on at the house of the millionaire Ramanath, where he falls for Ramanath's daughter Kaamna, who treats him with affection; the family ejects him back into his own class and moves to Bombay[7](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/plotsummary/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/muqaddar_ka_sikandar). As the years pass he rises from his lowly station and prospers, but the class difference that first separated him from Kaamna still stands between them[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/muqaddar_ka_sikandar). Unbeknownst to Kaamna, who wants nothing to do with him, he has been quietly paying the medical bills of her disabled father[7](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/plotsummary/).
The film's authorship acknowledges a literary source in disguise. According to a News24 retrospective marking the film's 47th anniversary, the Zohra-Sikandar-Kamna triangle was directly inspired by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's novel *Devdas*, though the makers, including screenplay writer Vijay Kaul, were not willing to attribute literary antecedents to the film publicly[8](https://news24online.com/entertainment/exclusive-amitabh-bachchan-recalls-working-with-prakash-mehra-raakhee-in-muqaddar-ka-sikandar-as-movie-clocks-47-years/656968/). A Hindi film studies survey places Bachchan's role in the tradition of the melancholic, unfulfilled lover[9](https://apnaorg.com/books/english/cinema-of-enchantment/cinema-of-enchantment.pdf).
## Music
The score and songs are by the composer duo Kalyanji-Anandji, with lyrics by Anjaan and by Prakash Mehra himself[4](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/). The playback roster spans the leading voices of the period: [Lata Mangeshkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/lata-mangeshkar), Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, and [Mahendra Kapoor](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahendra-kapoor)[4](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/).
Several songs are singled out in reviews: "Salaam-E-Ishq", a mujra number performed on screen by Rekha; "Pyar Zindagi Hai"; and "O Saathi Re"[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/muqaddar_ka_sikandar). "Salaam-E-Ishq", picturized on Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha, was a major hit[10](https://www.livehindustan.com/entertainment/bollywood/muqaddar-ka-sikandar-makers-wanted-to-replace-rekha-to-reena-roy-she-was-making-big-mistake-201762749480516.html). The title song contains the lines "Hamne mana ye zamana dard ki jagir hai, har kadam par aansuon ki ek nayi zanjeer hai"[11](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/movie-review/sikandar-movie-review-in-hindi-by-pankaj-shukla-salman-khan-rashmika-mandanna-a-r-murugadoss-sathyaraj-anjini-2025-03-30). For the climax, in which Bachchan's character dies, Kalyanji-Anandji needed only four lines, and these were sung by Mohammad Rafi[12](https://www.livehindustan.com/entertainment/bollywood/mohammed-rafi-dharmendra-sang-just-4-lines-in-amitabh-bachchan-mukaddar-ka-sikandar-for-free-made-audiences-cry-forever-201781222317878.html).
## Reception and legacy
The film topped the domestic box office in its release year[1](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/muqaddar-ka-sikandar.html) • [13](https://khabariprashad.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/28-10-2024-Khabari-Prashad-1.pdf). A survey of Hindi film fanzine culture lists it among a small set of Bachchan films that reached the distinction Indian fanzines call a "super-super hit", alongside *Deewar*, *Sholay*, and *Amar Akbar Anthony*[14](https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/filmandhistory/Mishra%20Actor%20as%20Parallel%20Text.pdf). The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema notes that Mehra, who had set the trend for revenge and vigilante films after *[Zanjeer](https://www.edgepedia.org/zanjeer-1973-film)* (1973), continued that engagement with the Bachchan persona in this film[3](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%2520of%2520Indian%2520Cinema.pdf).
Its title has remained a reference point in [Hindi cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/hindi-cinema). [Neeraj Pandey](https://www.edgepedia.org/neeraj-pandey)'s 2024 Netflix heist film *[Sikandar Ka Muqaddar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sikandar-ka-muqaddar)* inverts the name as an explicit callback to 1970s Hindi film aesthetics, though it shares nothing with the 1978 film[15](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/hindi/review/2024/Nov/29/sikandar-ka-muqaddar-movie-review-neeraj-pandeys-heist-drama-is-overlong-without-a-relief). Critics of the 1978 film describe a drama of love, loyalty, and loss in the tonal register of 1970s Hindi cinema, carried by Bachchan's performance[16](https://letterboxd.com/cletusvandamm/film/muqaddar-ka-sikandar/).
## References
1. [Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), FilmiBeat Hindi](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/muqaddar-ka-sikandar.html)
2. [Bhowmick, Bikash Ch. (2021). "The audience and the star", Rupkatha Journal](http://rupkatha.com/V13/n1/v13n136.pdf)
3. [Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema entry for Muqaddar Ka Sikandar](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%2520of%2520Indian%2520Cinema.pdf)
4. [Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/fullcredits/)
5. [Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, 3rabica](https://3rabica.org/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D9%83%D8%A7_%D8%B3%D9%83%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1)
6. [Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/muqaddar_ka_sikandar)
7. [Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), plot summary, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt0079590/plotsummary/)
8. [Amitabh Bachchan recalls Muqaddar Ka Sikandar at 47 years, News24](https://news24online.com/entertainment/exclusive-amitabh-bachchan-recalls-working-with-prakash-mehra-raakhee-in-muqaddar-ka-sikandar-as-movie-clocks-47-years/656968/)
9. [Cinema of Enchantment (book PDF)](https://apnaorg.com/books/english/cinema-of-enchantment/cinema-of-enchantment.pdf)
10. [Livehindustan: Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Rekha](https://www.livehindustan.com/entertainment/bollywood/muqaddar-ka-sikandar-makers-wanted-to-replace-rekha-to-reena-roy-she-was-making-big-mistake-201762749480516.html)
11. [Sikandar review, Amar Ujala](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/movie-review/sikandar-movie-review-in-hindi-by-pankaj-shukla-salman-khan-rashmika-mandanna-a-r-murugadoss-sathyaraj-anjini-2025-03-30)
12. [Livehindustan: Mohammad Rafi and the climax song](https://www.livehindustan.com/entertainment/bollywood/mohammed-rafi-dharmendra-sang-just-4-lines-in-amitabh-bachchan-mukaddar-ka-sikandar-for-free-made-audiences-cry-forever-201781222317878.html)
13. [Khabari Prashad, 28 October 2024 (PDF)](https://khabariprashad.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/28-10-2024-Khabari-Prashad-1.pdf)
14. [Mishra, "Actor as Parallel Text", Film and History](https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6/filmandhistory/Mishra%20Actor%20as%20Parallel%20Text.pdf)
15. [Sikandar Ka Muqaddar review, Cinema Express](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/hindi/review/2024/Nov/29/sikandar-ka-muqaddar-movie-review-neeraj-pandeys-heist-drama-is-overlong-without-a-relief)
16. [Muqaddar Ka Sikandar review, Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/cletusvandamm/film/muqaddar-ka-sikandar/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license