PARENT'S SPEAK

Hello Everyone,

I am Shailendra Sharma, father of Kainaat Sharma who is in Grade V A. As we kick start the new series on movie reviews, Yes! you read that right - Movie Reviews, I will try to write a review on 1 movie every month.

Being the admin of a movie club, Nagpur Movie Buffs, we had multiple events in the past, before the pandemic. These were always related to new releases. I am a movie buff and a First Day First Show Man, no matter even if the show was scheduled for 7:30 in the morning.

So, let's start with my all-time favourite, Aamir Khan starrer Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, ( JJWS ) a movie that made an impact on students on how to get the best out of themselves.

JJWS is a remake of Breaking Away (1979). But still, those days did we care?

The movie is a superb film based on sports, a rarely tackled theme those days. The film has a nice message too and deals with aspects like ambition, maturity, and struggle.

The film starts off well as Aamir's wayward ways lend many laughs and also the constant bickering between the school guys is fun to watch.

The reasons that make Aamir grow as a person is well handled. The finale makes you feel a lump go down your throat. The many aspects of movie-making like cinematography, editing, are treated well and beautifully crafted. It is the first time that we got to see such natural characters - college-going kids and their usual lingo - in a movie so realistic, yet, magical.

Aamir Khan was truly outstanding in the lead role along with Ayesha Jhulka, Pooja Bedi, Kulbhushan Kharbannda, Mamik Singh, Deven Bhojani. Deepak Tijori showed his grey side in a role coveted by Akshay Kumar at one time.

Mansoor Khan's direction was of high calibre. He deserves kudos for taking an inter-college cycle race to such a level of excitement in the film's grand finale.

The climatic slow motion shots are simply amazing. Jatin Lalit's musical score was another winner with 'Pehla Nasha' topping the charts for many weeks. My personal favourite is 'Jawaan ho yaaro' imaginatively filmed as a college skit.

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, surprisingly, belied my expectations at the box office and turned out to be just an average grosser performing well in cities but flopping in the interiors. This was clearly a multiplex film in an era when there were no multiplexes.

The film got its due at the Filmfare Awards function winning the Best Film for 1992.

I highly recommend this movie for self-belief, struggle, motivation and of course, a stress buster for sure.

I rate this movie 5 ***** out of 5