30 Years Of 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar': Akshay Kumar Was Rejected; Milind Soman Had Quit The Film
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar turns 30: Did you know Akshay Kumar was rejected in the audition and Milind Soman was forced to quit the movie?
"Chahe tum kuch na kaho maine sun liya" - 30 years later, Jeeta Wohi Sikandar still excited us!
Released in 1992, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was a rare film, a cult classic. Mansoor Khan's second film after Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak is a timeless film that is still special for the Bollywood buffs. It is the OG Student Of The Year of the 90s.
From Sanju (Aamir Khan) and Anjali (Ayesha Jhulka) to Shekhar Malhotra (Deepak Tijori) and Ratanlal Sharma (Mamik Singh), even after 30 long years, all the characters remain etched in our hearts. Do you know Milind Soman was supposed to feature in the film?
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Milind Soman was the first choice for Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
Not Deepak Tijori but Milind Soman was the first choice to play Shekhar Malhotra in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Revealing the same to Bollywood Hungama, Tijori said, "Milind Soman had bagged the part. 75% of the film was shot with him. Then the makers scrapped the film. It was shut for some time. I knew they had shot it as I had auditioned and I was not selected." Milind Soman was in his modelling days when he bagged the role.
Milind Soman doesn't regret leaving Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
In an interview earlier, Soman had said that he doesn't regret the decision. "I don't regret it because I think it would have been really early for me at that time," he said.
Milind Soman had made his acting debut eight years later in 2000, with the crime drama film Tarkieb.
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Not just Milind Soman but Akshay Kumar had also auditioned for the role.
If grapevine is to be believed, Akshay Kumar had also auditioned for the role, but he was rejected in the audition round itself. In an interview with Mid-Day, he said, "Apna screen test diya maine, for Deepak TijoriĄ¯s role. And they didnĄ¯t like it. And, apparently, I was crap, so they removed me." The role was then given to Milind Soman.
At that time, Akshay was new to the industry. He had made his debut in 1991 film, Saugandh in which he played the lead role.
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Do you know Mamik Singh, the handsome hunk with curly hair who essayed the role of Ratanlal Sharma a.k.a. Ratan and made several women go weak in the knees, was also a part of Scam 1992?
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He played a small role in the cinematic adaptation of the story of Harshad Mehta (played by Pratik Gandhi). In Scam 1992 ¨C The Harshad Mehta Story, he essayed the role of CitiBank Chief ¨C Mr.Rao in episode 9. Take a look here.
(For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment, and let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.)
Garima Satija leads the Entertainment vertical of Indiatimes. A storyteller at heart who enjoys the thrill of writing, she is sometimes found daydreaming about living the lives of movie characters. Also, she hates talking about herself in the third person.
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