It has been twenty five years since Mansoor Khan’s cult classic Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar first hit the big screen. And one of the most talked about highlights of the ongoing MAMI festival was the reunion of the film’s cast and crew including Mansoor Khan, stars Aamir Khan, Ayesha Jhulka, Pooja Bedi as well as choreographer Farah Khan.
A candid chat with the media too followed with Mansoor, who left Bollywood more than a decade ago to take up farming in Coonoor, revealing that he almost pulled off the ultimate casting coup. He wanted to cast the Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan together in Josh, his 2000 film.
The filmmaker revealed that Aamir, who is also his cousin, rejected the film as he wanted to play SRK’s role, a charismatic Goan goon Max. Mansoor wanted to cast Aamir as Rahul, the brother of the rival gang’s leader who falls for Max’s sister, played by Aishwarya Rai.
“He (Aamir) refused to play the role. I saw that as perfect casting. Aamir wanted to change the image and he no longer wanted to play the lover boy or romantic hero,” Mansoor told reporters.
“The character of Max was charismatic so, everyone wanted to play Max. So Aamir would have never let Shah Rukh play it,” added the filmmaker. The character of Rahul was eventually played by Chandrachur Singh.
Mansoor added that the film was ahead of its time and made an impact almost ten years after its release.
“When it released, it just came and went. It did not seem to make an impact. Then ten years later people started talking about it gain,” said Mansoor Khan.
When the conversation turned to a remake, Farah Khan piped in.
“I have called dibs on it,” she exclaimed. So will we see a reboot. Let’s wait and watch.
Thumbnail Image Source: Manav Manglani