Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar as the ultimate feel-good 90s movie. But for Aamir Khan? It was a nightmare. In a candid interview, the superstar revealed a shocking secret: The movie was essentially made twice. Before we saw Sanju on screen, the team had already spent 70 days shooting in the hills of Ooty. Aamir felt he was "on a roll" and delivering career-best performances. Then, director Mansoor Khan dropped a bomb.
The "Nice Girl" Problem
The character of Devika, the glamorous, rich girl, was originally played by a different actress. According to Aamir, she was a wonderful person. And that was exactly the problem. Mansoor needed arrogance. He needed rich brat energy. The original actress was just too sweet and good-hearted. Mansoor admitted it was his casting mistake, not her talent. But the decision was final: They had to scrap 40% of the film to replace her.
The "Rude" Dudes
Aamir was devastated. He had to recreate all those spontaneous, perfect moments again. But it gets wilder. There were four other actors on set (the rival college gang) who were apparently a headache. Aamir recalls they were incredibly rude and constantly troubling the crew.
Since they were already reshooting Devika’s scenes, Aamir had a brainwave. He told Mansoor, Listen, if we are fixing the film, let's just fire these guys too and do the whole thing again, and they did. They fired the rude actors, brought in Pooja Bedi as the new Devika, and reshot 80% of the movie. The classic we love today is actually Version 2.0!
