'Aamir Khan Watched SRK's Josh And Hated It', Reveals Filmmaker Mansoor Khan
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Josh, directed by Mansoor Khan, stars Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai as siblings. Initially, Aamir Khan was considered for the role of Max, but he rejected it.
Josh, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai as siblings, may not have been a blockbuster success; however, the film continues to be a favourite among fans for the cast, story, songs and acting. Directed by Mansoor Khan, the film was written with both Shah Rukh Khan and his cousin, Aamir Khan, in mind. However, the Sitaare Zameen Par actor not only rejected the film but 'hated" it too when he had first watched it years back.
'He [Aamir Khan] saw it at that time and said he hated it," Mansoor Khan told Screen. He added, 'So I said, okay, fine. I was pretty disillusioned after that too. I didn't watch it again for 15, maybe 17 years. I finally saw it about eight years ago, and honestly, I feel it's not a bad film. I told Aamir, 'You should see it now'. I said, 'See, back then, the wounds were still fresh'."
In fact, Josh was narrated to both Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir. And both were interested to play Max, the role which later went to SRK. Mansoor spoke about how the casting was finalised and the moment when Aamir rejected to play the part.
The filmmaker said, 'So after Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, I was looking for a script. And it was then I wrote a lot of Josh, and I had both Aamir and Shah Rukh in mind, Aamir for the romantic part, opposite whoever the actress would be, and Shah Rukh as Max. But when I narrated it to Aamir, I didn't tell him who was supposed to play which role. So he started imagining that he'd be playing Max. I thought, 'Oh no, now what do I do?" In my head, I was like, okay, don't jump the gun. Let me go see what Shah Rukh says first. Not that I ever intended to give Max's role to Aamir, honestly, I just wanted to see how the cards would fall."
Mansoor Khan said that he had gone to meet SRK and narrated the script to him. King Khan had really liked it, and by the end of the narration, he had already started talking about the scenes, as his mind was very active. He had started suggesting ideas, saying that in one scene, Max could do this, and in another, Max could do that. At that point, he had thought to himself that Shah Rukh also wanted the same role. But he did want him for Max, so he asked Shah Rukh if he was doing the film. The actor had replied that he wasn't, because he knew Aamir would get Max's role. He admitted that he hadn't really known how to respond to that, so he had just left it there and hadn't said anything.
Later, Aamir reached out to Mansoor and said, 'No, no, I don't want to play this role." He'd already done a lot of soft-boy, lover-boy parts. And he'd also done that tapori role in Rangeela, so he wanted to change his image. So he said no on his own. Anyway, in my mind, even to this day, there's only one Max, and that's Shah Rukh. He's got that panache, the humour, and that underlying threat needed for the role. He is a charismatic guy."
Previously, Aamir Khan and Mansoor Khan had collaborated in 1992 blockbuster, Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.
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