Did you know actor Pooja Bedi became a part of the movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar when almost 70 per cent of the movie was shot?
But we are glad it worked out the way it did, because imagining anyone else recreating the Marylin Monroe moment in a red dress so effortlessly, while Aamir Khan sang Pehla Nasha for her, is almost impossible. As the cult classic, starring Deepak Tijori, Mamik Singh, Ayesha Jhulka, turns 30 this month, Bedi recalls how fun her debut movie turned out to be.
Bedi was in her teens when she signed the movie that finally released when she was 21. “My role was played by another heroine before my arrival into the film. Even Ayesh Jhulka’s part was played by another actor called Girija. But Mansoor felt that they were not doing justice to the characters he had envisioned for the film. He literally replaced many characters in the film,” recalls Bedi, adding that even Deepak Tijori’s character was originally played by Milind Soman. “It was a brave step to take those decisions at that time,” she says.
Most of the movie was filmed in Ooty and the Nilgiris, however, Bedi didn’t have a single day’s shoot in Ooty. “Most of my scenes were shot in film city, Mumbai. My kissing scene with Aamir was shot in Lonavala or Kandala, in an old-world fort setting. Apart from that, I had 1-2 days shoot in Bengaluru. It was really fun because it was a young and peppy film,” laughs the actor.
To this day, the film is still relatable, feels Bedi. “The beauty of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar is that everybody related to the characters. It was that period in their life when they were in school, and played similar pranks and had similar rivalries. The hot girl and the new girl next door... The youngsters who watched it then felt the movie was made for them,” says Bedi, adding that it was a well-made film which was ahead of its times.
The actor-turned-entrepreneur has always had a special connection with the city, because of her mother Protima Bedi, who set up the dance school, Nrityagram. “Everywhere I go, I meet people who knew her, worked with her, encouraged her, supported, and whose lives she touched in so many ways. Of course, I went to Nrityagram and stayed there as well. For me, it’s just home,” says an emotional Bedi, who is currently busy setting up her wellness companies — Magicians of Wellness and Merchants of Wellness — both of which are represented by her brand HappySoul, in Goa.