Aamir Khan was offered this Shah Rukh Khan film but he refused, hated it after watching it: 'His wounds were still fresh'

Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Chandrachur Singh, Sharad Kapoor, and Priya Gill in the leading roles, the 2000 musical romantic film Josh recently completed 25 years of its release. While Shah Rukh and Aishwaya play twins in the film, the latter's love interest is played by Chandrachud Singh. 

Director Mansoon Khan initially wanted his cousin superstar Aamir Khan to star opposite Aishwarya in the film, but the Dangal actor wanted to play Shah Rukh's role. After playing the leading roles in Mansoor Khan's first three films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, and Akele Hum Akele Tum; Aamir Khan refused his cousin's fourth film as he was being offered the second lead to Shah Rukh Khan, and thus, hated Josh after watching it.

Mansoor Khan wanted both Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in Josh

In his latest interview, Mansoor Khan shares the casting story behind Josh. Talking to the Indian Express Screen, the filmmaker said, "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."

The filmmaker further shared how Shah Rukh excitedly reacted to the script ,"Not that I ever intended to give Max’s role to Aamir, honestly, I just wanted to see how the cards would fall. So I went to meet Shah Rukh and narrated the script to him. He really liked it. And by the end of the narration, he’d already started talking about the scenes, because his mind is very active. He was like, 'Yeah, in that scene, Max can do this, and in that one, Max can do that.' And I thought, 'Oh God, this guy also wants the same role.' But anyway, I did want him for Max. So I asked, 'Shah Rukh, are you doing the film?' And he said, 'No, because I know Aamir will get Max’s role.' At that point, I didn’t really know how to respond."

When Aamir Khan himself said no to Mansoor Khan for Josh

"So I just left it there. I didn’t say anything. But later on, Aamir himself 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", Mansoor concluded.

Aamir Khan hated Josh as "his wounds were still fresh"

When the director was asked what was Aamir's reaction after seeing Josh, he replied, "He saw it at that time and said he hated it. 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.'" 

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