Deepak Tijori recently revealed that he was asked by Aamir Khan to play the role of Shekhar Malhotra in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) after many actors walked out of the film and it was stalled for some time. He was called over to take up the role which was earlier given to Milind Soman.
In a conversation with Radio Nasha, Deepak said, “The film was almost shut, apparently. Around 75% of it had been done. Jo Jeeta... was a movie I really wanted to do, and when I didn’t get it, I was very upset. But I moved on after some time. A few months later, we heard rumours that things had derailed in Ooty, and that actors had walked off the set. One day, Bhatt (Mahesh Bhatt) saab, who was shooting Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahi (1991) in Ooty, called me and said that I must go to the Jo Jeeta… set because Aamir Khan and Mansoor Khan had asked for me.”
He added, “I found out that the film was stalled. It wasn’t moving forward. I got to meet Nasir saab, who said, ‘Beta, aapko yeh karna hai(do you want to do this?)’, and I said, ‘Sir, aapne bol diya toh baat khatam hogayi(If you want me to do it, I will absolutely)’. Bhatt saab, Aamir, and everyone had asked me to do it, so I was going to do it.”
The film ultimately turned out to be a huge success both for Aamir and Deepak. It also starred Pooja Bedi, Mamik Singh, Ayesha Jhulka and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in pivotal roles.
