Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander is a movie I've wanted to write about for a long time. I seriously think it is one of the most understated movies of Hindi cinema. It clearly hasn't received its due credit. In my opinion it deserves its place among all time greats like Lagaan.
To start with the movie covers so many different aspects of a teenagers life and the movie has been so tastefully done that one can easily relate to the theme being portrayed. Except for one song which could have been edited (the Diwali song which i always skip), the whole movie is flawless. The performances, the direction and the storyline is par excellence. I say this because i have easily seen the movie more than a hundred times and each of those times i have discovered some new aspect of the movie. The attention to detail is immaculate and this is the hallmark of a good movie.
One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the background score. Not for one moment do you feel that the music doesn't belong there and has been inserted there just for the heck of it (as is the case with most of the movies of the time). The training montage(when Sanju prepares for the final cycle race), the music when the race is going on, the music when the Rajput boys go through Mal road (shouting Vir Bahadur Ladke Kaun...) and for that matter every second of the movie has remarkable music complementing the stellar performance. The way the song 'Pehla Nasha' captures the feeling of your first crush cannot be described. Jatin Lalit have really done a wonderful job.
Last but not the least the way human emotions have been portrayed in the movie is beyond comparison. Aamir Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Deepak Tijori, Mamik, Ayesha Jhulka, Pooja Bedi and all the other actors in the film were excellent. I will never forget the scene in which Sanju(Aamir) tells his father (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) that Ratan has had an accident. The acting by both the actors doesn't go overboard and there's no melodrama; the scene finds its place among the best in my mind.
It must be realized that this movie came out at a time when Hindi cinema was probably at its lowest ebb what with a 50 year old Amitabh Bachchan acting like a 20 year old and dancing behind trees. Even movies which were considered the best of that year like Baazigar cannot be seen today. The clichés and utter nonsense(for lack of a better word) make it unbearable. Compared to this Jo Jeeta still holds its own. In my opinion the movie was way ahead of its times in Hindi cinema and has been denied its due credit as a result of internal politics in Bollywood.
I would like to end by quoting the opening track of nasir hussain productions: "Kya Ishq Ne Samjha Hai, Kya Husn Ne Jaana Hai Hum Khakh Nashinon Ki, Thokar Main Zamaana Hai"
