Aamir Khan’s coming-of-age sports drama Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar is one of the most acclaimed and iconic cult classics in the Hindi film industry. While the movie continues to enjoy a loyal fan base even today, not many know that it was once shut down after the film’s director — and Aamir’s cousin — Mansoor Khan realised he had cast the wrong actor in a key role.
In a recent interaction, Deepak Tijori, who eventually played that character, shared that he wasn’t the first choice for Shekhar Malhotra. He revealed that despite auditioning for the part, he was initially rejected, and the character was given to Milind Soman. He told Bollywood Bubble, “Milind was doing the film. I had auditioned for it, but I was rejected. I was upset because I was rejected despite giving such a good performance. Then I had moved on, and thankfully, my film Aashiqui (1990) worked.”
Deepak shared that after 75 per cent of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was shot with Milind, the makers realised he wasn’t right for the role. He said, “So they had shot 75 per cent of the film with Milind. I used to hear stories that there was a problem going on on the sets of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. But since I was not involved with the film, I didn’t pay attention. I moved on, ended Aashiqui and Sadak (1991).”
After getting rejected from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Mahesh Bhatt turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Deepak and cast him in his films Aashiqui and Sadak. It was Mahesh Bhatt who encouraged Deepak to give Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar another shot. Recalling the same, he said, “Mahesh Bhatt asked me to go and meet Mansoor Khan. I refused. But he—you know how he would give galis… It’s his love and affection… So I agreed to meet Mansoor, and there I got to meet Nasir Hussain sahab.”
It was only after the legendary producer-director and Aamir Khan’s paternal uncle, Nasir Hussain, insisted that Deepak agreed to do the film. “Nasir sahab told me that you have to do this, and I said ‘hukum‘. I just wanted to confirm that they had informed Milind about this. Nasir sahab confirmed to me that it had been done.”
Sharing how the film was temporarily shelved due to the wrong casting, Deepak said, “I got to know something on the 30th anniversary of the film… Aamir and Mansoor told me that the film had shut down and Mansoor was in depression because he thought that he had wasted all his father’s money. The film was restarted after I came in.”
