Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
Poster
Directed by	Mansoor Khan
Written by	Nasir Hussain Mansoor Khan
Produced by	Nasir Hussain
Starring	Aamir Khan Ayesha Jhulka Deepak Tijori Mamik Singh Pooja Bedi Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Cinematography	Najeeb Khan
Edited by	Zafar Sultan Dilip Katalagi
Music by	Jatin-Lalit
Production company	Nasir Hussain Films
Distributed by	Nasir Hussain Films United Producers
Release date	22 May 1992 (1992-05-22)
Running time	169 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	₹52 million[1]

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (transl. He who wins is the king) is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age sports film, directed and co-written by Mansoor Khan,^[2] and produced and co-written by Nasir Hussain. The film stars Aamir Khan,^[3] 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.^[4]

Plot[]

Ramlal has two sons – the ideal, older son Ratan and the indisciplined younger one, Sanjay. Ratan is always hard-working while Sanjay always fails in his classes and hangs around with his friends Ghanshu and Maksood. Ratan competes for top honours at the inter-college sports event but ends up losing the penultimate cycle race at the finish line to his arch rival, Shekhar, by less than a cycle's length. As a result, he ends up placing second at the cycle race while his archrival Shekhar ends up winning the race.

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 (the father of Randhir Thapar (Xaviers Student)) 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 that Sanjay is from Model College and a localite, she immediately dumps him for Shekhar.

Sanjay, who is regularly insulted by Shekhar and his friends over his apparent poverty (as compared to them), ends up fighting with them after being dumped by Devika. Ratan intervenes and saves the day, but as a result Ramlal banishes Sanjay from the house. To make matters worse, Ratan 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 a cliff. Ratan survives the fall but is seriously injured and does 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 Ratan and 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[]

• Aamir Khan as Sanjaylal Sharma a.k.a. Sanju aka Sanjay Thapar
• Ayesha Jhulka as Anjali
• Deepak Tijori as Shekhar Malhotra
• Mamik Singh as Ratanlal Sharma a.k.a. Ratan
• as Kalpana
• Sooraj Thapar as Shekhar Malhotra's friend
• Pooja Bedi as Devika
• Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Ramlal Sharma
• Aditya Lakhia as Maksood a.k.a. Ghode
• Deven Bhojani as Ghanshyam a.k.a. Ghanshu
• Asrani as Mr. Dubey (Model school teacher)
• Faisal Khan in a special appearance (College student)
• Imran Khan as Young Sanjaylal
• as Young Ratanlal
• Anjan Srivastav as Race commentator
• Ajit Vachani as Rajput's Principal
• Deb Mukherjee as Rajput's Coach
• Ravindra Kapoor as Shakoor
• Jatin Pandit as Xavier's college student and performer at the college dance event
• Lalit Pandit as Xavier's college student and guitarist at college dance event
• Amol Gupte as cycle race commentator
• Girija Shettar as lead in the song "Jawa ho yaaron song" - Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
• as Girdhari aka Anjali's Father
• as Rukhsana aka Devika's friend and classmate
• as Shekhar Malhotra's friend

Production[]

The film was directed by Mansoor Khan, and written and produced by Nasir Hussain.^[5] Akshay Kumar had auditioned^[6] and Milind Soman was signed for Shekhar Malhotra's role,^[7] 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.^[8]

Filming[]

Though it is clearly mentioned in the introductory voice over that the movie is based in Dehradun (in fact, the first word spoken in the movie is "Dehradun"), it is mentioned twice in the movie (both times by the commentator during the cycle race) that it takes place in Kodaikanal. The movie has been shot predominantly in various locations^[9] in the south of India, primarily Kodaikanal.^[10]

Music[]

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
Studio album by Jatin-Lalit and Majrooh Sultanpuri
Released	1992
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	35:01
Label	Saregama
Producer	Jatin-Lalit
Jatin-Lalit chronology
Yaara Dildara (1991) Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) Khiladi (1992)
Majrooh Sultanpuri chronology
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Planet Bollywood	[11]

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 (the first one being "Jogi O Jogi" from Lakhon Mein Ek (1971), followed by "Baare Baare" from Naagarahaavu (1972) and "Sundari Neeyum" from Michael Madana Kama Rajan (1990)) 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.^[12]

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was the third best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of 1992, having sold 2.5 million units in India.^[13]

All lyrics are written by Majrooh Sultanpuri; all music is composed by Jatin-Lalit.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Yahaan Ke Hum Sikander"	Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam, Jatin-Lalit	5:29
2.	"Naam Hai Mera Fonseca"	Amit Kumar, Alka Yagnik	4:41
3.	"Arre Yaaron Mere Pyaaron"	Udit Narayan, Vijeta Pandit	5:16
4.	"Humse Hai Sara Jahan"	Jatin Pandit, Sadhana Sargam	4:13
5.	"Pehla Nasha"	Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam	4:51
6.	"Rooth Ke Humse"	Jatin Pandit	5:15
7.	"Shehar Ki Pariyon"	Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam	5:16

Release and reception[]

Box office[]

In India, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar net ₹40 million^[14][15] and grossed ₹52 million (US$2.01 million),^[1] equivalent to ₹927 million (US$13 million) adjusted for inflation.^[16] The film opened to good responses, and was declared a hit at the box office.^[17] Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander was also broadcast on Disney Channel India.

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, Ayesha Jhulka, and Pooja Bedi, but criticised Jatin Lalit's music.^[18]

Awards and nominations[]

38th Filmfare Awards

Winner

• Filmfare Best Film Award – Nasir Hussain
• Filmfare Best Editing Award – Zafar Sultan, Dilip Katalgi

Nominated

• Filmfare Best Director Award – Mansoor Khan
• Filmfare Best Actor Award – Aamir Khan
• Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award – Pooja Bedi
• Filmfare Best Music Director Award – Jatin-Lalit
• Filmfare Best Lyricist Award – Majrooh Sultanpuri for Woh Sikandar Hi Doston
• Filmfare Best Male Playback Award – Udit Narayan for Pehla Nasha

References[]

External links[]

• Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar at IMDb
• Facebook