5 min readMumbaiUpdated: Apr 22, 2026 09:55 AM IST
Aamir Khan’s Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was released over 30 years ago, in 1992, but continues to fascinate film aficionados, as does its making. Deven Bhojani, who played Aamir’s friend in the film, also assisted director Mansoor Khan. The actor has since got more than a few hits under his belt — from TV shows to films in multiple languages — and calls the film a turning point in his life, which made him look at direction as a viable career. In an excusive interview with SCREEN, He shared that his college friend Aamir Khan pushed him to assist Mansoor. Deven also recalled how Aamir Khan would keep pulling his leg and shared an incident about them getting lost in the jungles of Ooty and Kodaikanal.
How Deven Bhojani started assisting Mansoor Khan on Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar?
Discussing how becoming a director happened very organically for him, Deven went on to share, “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.’ 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 Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was released, things got so good for me as an actor that I had to put direction on the back burner. A few years later, I directed Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Sumeet Sambhal Lega, and Commando 2, which was my last directorial.”
Deven further added, “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. 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.”
Sharing another incident where he was scolded by Mansoor Khan, Deven Bhojani recalled, “Also, when I was an assistant director, at one point in time, I was supposed to give the clap. They explained to me what had to be done. When Mansoor would say clap, and I would wait for him to say action. He would then scold me. I used to think that only when they say action, I am supposed to give a clap. After I spoiled that for some time, Mansoorji asked me to start giving cues to other actors. I was so good at that that many people appreciated me. People would say, ‘You should play Pooja Bedi’s role, since you give better cues than her.’”
Aamir Khan and Deven Bhojani got lost in the jungle
Sharing another fun incident, Deven Bhojani said they once got lost in a jungle during the shooting of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. He said, “We had a lot of fun, we used to roam around a lot. Whenever there was no shoot, we used to explore Ooty and Kodaikanal. Once, we even got lost in the jungle; it was Aamir Khan, me, Aditya Lakhia, and Girija Shettar. The four of us went exploring the jungle. Eventually, it was 4 pm, and we lost our way. We had heard wild animals were around, so all of us were very tense. After struggling to find the way, we managed to find a local who helped us get out.”
Deven also shared how it was his performance in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar that led to Shah Rukh Khan recommending his name for another film. Deven Bhojani has been acting for four decades now, and he will soon be seen in the Gujarati film Dhabkaaro, which releases in theaters on 1st May 2026.
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