Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar


Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age sports drama film, directed and co-written by Mansoor Khan, and produced and co-written by Nasir Hussain. The film stars Aamir Khan, Ayesha Jhulka, Deepak Tijori, Pooja Bedi, Mamik Singh and Kulbhushan Kharbanda, whilst Aamir's brother Faisal Khan makes a special appearance. The music was by Jatin Lalit. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar won two Filmfare Awards, including Best Film.
The film grossed in India, equivalent to adjusted for inflation. The film became a trend-setter, inspiring the Telugu film Thammudu which went on to be remade in Tamil as Badri, in Kannada as Yuvaraja and in Bengali as Champion. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander was also broadcast on Disney Channel India.

Plot

Ramlal have two sons - the ideal, older son Ratan and the indisciplined younger one, Sanjay. Ratan competes for top honours at the inter-college sports event. He ends up losing the penultimate cycle race at the finish line to his archrival, Shekhar, by less than a cycle's length.
Over the course of the next year, Ratan and Shekhar continually keep running into each other while training, usually ending with Shekhar, who is from the elite Rajput College, mocking Ratan over his modest background. Meanwhile, Sanjay is busy chasing girls in cars that he "borrows" from his childhood friend Anjali's garage. He lies to and starts going out with Devika, a rich girl studying in Queen's College, who believes Sanjay is a millionaire's son and that he attends the elite boy's college, Xaviers. Sanjay is actually from the local Model College, like his father before him and his brother, but ends up falling in love with Devika despite Anjali's warnings. When Devika learns the truth, she immediately dumps him for Shekhar.
Sanjay, who is regularly insulted by Shekhar and his friends over his apparent poverty, ends up fighting with them after being dumped by Devika. Ratan intervenes and saves the day, but pays the price the next morning when Shekhar's friends accost him on his training route. During the ensuing fight, Shekhar inadvertently pushes Ratan off the cliff. Ratan survives the fall but is seriously injured and will not compete in the next cycle race.
This prompts a guilty Sanjay to get his act together - he begins training hard and preparing to participate in the race. He is helped by Anjali, who has always had a crush on him and with whom he later falls in love. At the annual cycle race, Shekhar and Sanjay take the lead but end up colliding and falling off course. They start fighting each other over the incident involving Ratan, only to rejoin the race once the rest of the field has overtaken them on the course. They both manage to chase down the rest of the field, and emerge one behind the other, with Shekhar leading. At the finish line in the last lap of the race, Sanjay overtakes Shekhar to win the race for his college, marking the first time since his father that Model College will lift the sports trophy.

Cast

The film was directed by Mansoor Khan, and written and produced by Nasir Hussain. Akshay Kumar had auditioned and Milind Soman was signed for Shekhar Malhotra's role, before Deepak Tijori played the role. Aditya Pancholi was selected to play the role of Ratan, but the role went to Mamik Singh, as confirmed by DNA.
The plot has similarities to the 1979 American film Breaking Away. However, Mansoor Khan stated that he only became aware of Breaking Away after the likeness was brought to his attention, some time after the release of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. Both films have several similarities, including friendship, class barriers, bicycle racing, and parental relationship, but otherwise have different narratives, characters, motivations, treatment and racing rules.

Music

The music for the movie was composed by Jatin Lalit and the lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The soundtrack, the second collaboration between Jatin and Lalit, helped to launch their careers. It was nominated for Best Music at the Filmfare Awards 1993. "Pehla Nasha" was the fourth film song in Indian cinema, followed by "Baare Baare" from Naagarahaavu and "Sundari Neeyum" from Michael Madana Kama Rajan ) to be shot in complete slow motion. The technique was later used in many films and music videos. Pehla Nasha was the most popular track of the album and has become a cult song. Other popular tracks were "Humse Hai Sara Jahan", "Rooth Ke Humse" and "Arre Yaaron Mere Pyaaron". The song "Arre Yaaron Mere Pyaaron" was sung by Udit Narayan along with Vijeta Pandit.
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was the third best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of 1992, having sold 2.5million units in India.

[38th Filmfare Awards]

Winner
Nominated
In India, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar net and grossed, equivalent to adjusted for inflation. The film opened to good responses, and was declared a hit at the box office.

Critical reception

In a review dated 29 May 1992, The Indian Express praised Najeeb Khan's photography, the sets and the performances of Aamir Khan and Pooja Bedi, but criticised Jatin Lalit's music.

Locations

Though it is clearly mentioned in the introductory voice over that the movie is based in Dehradun, it is mentioned twice in the movie that it takes place in Kodaikanal. The movie has been shot predominantly in various locations in the south of India, primarily Kodaikanal.

Trivia