Aamir Khan’s 1992 classic, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, remains one of the most cherished films in Bollywood. However, what many people might not realise is that it faced numerous trials, failures, setbacks, and chaos behind the scenes, nearly derailing the project. Filmmaker Mansoor Khan revealed in a recent interview that Aamir Khan’s timely intervention helped rescue the project, prompting him to make difficult decisions, one of which included replacing Milind Soman with Deepak Tijori in a key role.
Mansoor Khan opens up on the casting misfire of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
In a recent interview with SCREEN, Mansoor Khan admitted that the film was on the brink of collapse due to disastrous casting decisions. The filmmaker, who launched Aamir Khan to superstardom with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, recalled the string of poor choices during the early stages of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, which almost derailed the project. He was quoted as saying:
“I cast a bunch of people, and it was my mistake. It was the wrong cast… everyone who initially came into the project, for one reason or another, I rejected the right ones and picked the wrong ones. We shot for 40–45 days in and around Ooty, Coonoor, then came back to Bombay and shot a lot more, including the songs. But I could see the film was going nowhere… The film was turning out really badly, and it also nearly stalled.”