Deven Bhojani on how Aamir Khan pushed him to start directing on 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar' sets: 'Get technical knowledge'
ETimes | April 22, 2026 4:39 PM CST
' Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar ' is a 1992 coming-of-age sports action drama directed and co-written by Mansoor Khan . It starred Aamir Khan , Ayesha Jhulka , Deepak Tijori, Mamik Singh, Pooja Bedi, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in lead roles. Actor - director Deven Bhojani recently shared warm memories of working with Aamir Khan in 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar'. He played a friend to Aamir’s character and also assisted director Mansoor Khan. The experience helped him realise his own interest in direction. Deven opened up about these moments in a conversation with SCREEN.
Deven Bhojani on sharing a warm friendship with Aamir Khan
Deven and Aamir have been close friends since their college days. Aamir encouraged Deven to assist on the film to gain technical knowledge. “I had joined Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar as an actor. Aamir Khan has been my very good friend since college. Aamir told me that, ‘You are such a good actor, you should also assist someone and get technical knowledge. It will help you as an actor to understand position and light.’” This suggestion led Deven to start assisting Mansoor Khan on the same project.
Deven Bhojani discoves direction interest
Parts of 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar' had to be re-shot, giving Deven an opportunity to join the team. He gradually developed a liking for direction work. “So I started assisting Mansoor Khan on the same film; parts of Jo Jeeta had to be re-shot from scratch, so I joined him then. I also became inclined towards direction and started seeing things from a different perspective.” However, after the film’s release, acting offers increased and he had to pause his directing ambitions for some time.
Deven’s role as assistant director included checking continuity. Aamir often teased him during shoots. “Working with Aamir Khan on Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was fun, since we are college friends, we used to bond very well. As an assistant director, my job was to keep the continuity in check,” Deven shared during the interview.
Aamir would deliberately test him with small details
“So he would on purpose ask me what color socks he was wearing, then he would call his makeup man to cross-check when I would say he was not wearing socks. Then he would ask me if his sleeves were folded or open, and how many folds they had. So he would keep pulling my leg a lot.”
Learning from Mansoor Khan
Bhojani also recalled an incident where Mansoor Khan scolded him for misunderstanding the clap routine. He initially waited for the word ‘action’ before clapping. Later, Mansoor asked him to give cues to other actors. Deven became so good at it that people jokingly suggested he should play Pooja Bedi’s role.
Meanwhile, 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar' follows a college student who participates in a cycling race to win back his pride and love and is an iconic film in Bollywood.
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