Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar

About the film

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (transl. The one who wins is the king) also abbreviated as JJWS is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age sports action drama film, directed and co-written by Mansoor Khan, and produced and co-written by Nasir Hussain. It stars Aamir Khan, Ayesha Jhulka, Deepak Tijori, Mamik Singh, Pooja Bedi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The music was by Jatin–Lalit.

It won two Filmfare Awards, including Best Film. The film has gained cult following along the years and has often been cited as one of the best coming-of-age films in Indian cinema.

Plot

Shekhar and Ratan are sports rivals, who represent opposing colleges, Rajput and Model, respectively. Each year, they square up at the inter-college sports event, which culminates in a marathon cycle race across the hills of Dehradun. Rajput, led by Shekhar, have dominated recent championships. Ratan narrowly loses to Shekhar at the year's cycle race, after being ahead until the race's final seconds.

Ratan trains for next year's event. He starts seeing classmate Kalpana, after having a crush on her for some time. Meanwhile, Shekhar starts going out with Devika, a new enrollee at the elite Queens' College. Devika plans to meet Shekhar at the picnic spot where Queens will have their next class trip. She is delayed, and when she finally arrives, she finds another girl in Shekhar's arms. Shekhar tries to apologise, but Devika seeks revenge. She enlists Sanjay's help, who happily obliges since he is Ratan's brother.

After their plan to embarrass Shekhar succeeds, Sanjay makes a false show of wealth in front of Devika. Unaware of his real identity, Devika starts going out with him. Anjali warns Sanjay of Devika's intentions but he takes no heed. When Devika finds out Sanjay is not actually rich, she dumps him in front of Shekhar's friends. Humiliated, Sanjay picks a fight with them. He is outnumbered, but is saved by Ratan's intervention. The next morning, Shekhar and his friends gang up on Ratan when he is out alone training. In the ensuing fight, Ratan falls off a cliff and suffers multiple injuries. He awakes from coma, but is ruled out from competing at the year's sports event.

Production

The film was directed by Mansoor Khan, and written and produced by Nasir Hussain. Girija Shettar was initially chosen before she was replaced by Ayesha Jhulka after the first schedule. 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 and is reportedly inspired by it. 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 Sikandar. 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.

Milind Soman had completed 75% of his scenes before being replaced by Tijori.

Music

The film's music was composed by Jatin–Lalit and the lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Vocals for Aamir Khan were supplied by his then-frequent collaborator Udit Narayan.

The soundtrack, the second collaboration between Jatin and Lalit, helped to launch their careers. It was nominated for Best Music at the 1993 Filmfare Awards. "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.

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

Release and reception

In India, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar net ₹40 million and grossed ₹52 million (US$2.01 million), equivalent to ₹927 million (US$9.7 million) adjusted for inflation.

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.

Awards

Best Editing – Zafar Sultan and Dilip Katalgi

Best Lyricist – Majrooh Sultanpuri for "Woh Sikandar Hi Doston"

Best Male Playback Singer – Udit Narayan for "Pehla Nasha"

Key details