Last Updated: February 22, 2023, 12:11 IST
Deepak Tijori said he was rejected during the initial audition and the then-unknown Milind Soman was selected for the role.
Talking to Bollywood Hungama recently, Deepak Tijori said he was rejected during the initial audition
The 1992 film Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar has become a cult classic today. The Mansoor Khan directorial was a perfect blend of a coming-of-age drama as well as a sports drama. In fact, it revolutionised the coming-of-age genre, which had not been so well explored in Bollywood before. The evergreen song Pehla Nasha made the film more memorable. The movie starring Aamir Khan and Ayesha Jhulka in the lead roles had Deepak Tijori play the antagonist.
The movie, which revolved around an inter-college bicycle race had Deepak Tijori play Shekhar Malhotra, the strong competitor to Aamir Khan’s character.
However, not many know that Deepak Tijori landed the role only after a failed audition. Talking to Bollywood Hungama recently, Deepak Tijori said he was rejected during the initial audition and the then-unknown Milind Soman was selected for the role. Milind’s athletic build was perfect for the role of a sportsman and according to Deepak, Milind even shot for 75 per cent of the movie.
However, differences cropped up between Milind and the rest of the crew. Deepak said that he heard that Milind, who was a strict disciplinarian, was not getting his breakfast on time on the sets of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, which is why he left the film midway. It was only then that Deepak was called back and the actor credits Aamir Khan for getting him back on the project. However, Deepak maintains that he is still not sure about what went wrong between Milind and the production team of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.
The actor claimed in the same interview that he stopped appearing in movies after the year 2000 as a result of the film industry’s tendency to place actors in brackets. He named Arshad Warsi as a perfect example, who, according to him, is a brilliant actor but doesn’t get enough roles since the industry has restricted him to a predetermined bracket.
After his acting career faded away, Deepak Tijori tried his luck in direction and helmed films like Oops, Fareb and Tom, Dick and Harry.
