‘Aamir Khan hated Josh’: Mansoor Khan reflects on 25 years of Shah Rukh Khan-Aishwarya Rai-starrer, says film left him ‘disillusioned’

So basically, see, I’ve always wanted to make a spirited musical with Josh. Every now and then, I think, “Okay, this one is going to be a musical.” By musical, I don’t mean in the literal sense of just having songs in the film. I mean a true musical, like Fiddler on the Roof, where the scenes themselves become musical, you know?

Take me back to the beginning, when did the idea of adapting West Side Story strike you? Was it the popularity of the original that drew you in, or was it more about giving your own spin to a timeless classic and making it resonate with Indian audiences?

I really liked the premise of West Side Story. It is basically Romeo and Juliet in a different form. Instead of parents and families, it’s two brothers. So at its core, that’s the premise. But when I saw the film, I was very disappointed. I thought the first half was okay, very stylish and all. It had that stage musical feel. But I lost interest in the film after the brother dies, which happens midway through. I honestly don’t even remember the rest of it. Still, that premise stuck with me, brothers opposing the love of their siblings. I wanted to take that idea somewhere else, though. The Indian audience needs a little more than just that. And I didn’t want to focus only on resolving the love angle, you know? And I’ve always been fascinated by Goa and its history, especially Portuguese history, which a lot of people don’t know about. My wife is Goan, and I found that part of the history really intriguing.

You co-wrote some truly iconic dialogues for Josh with the late Neeraj Vora. What was that process like?

Neeraj was a storehouse of talent, and he was a very, very amusing and funny guy. He could be quite distracting, actually, because every time we sat down, and we had dozens of sittings, he’d come up with a new idea. Especially for the introduction, for a few weeks, he kept throwing in fresh thoughts that would totally throw us off. We’d be like, “Wow, that’s a great idea. Come on, we’ve written it now, we’re going with this.” And then the next day, Neeraj would come in and say, “You know, actually, I was thinking… if we do it like this, that could work too.” And we’d be like, “Yeah, let’s do it that way.” But, you know, I don’t get distracted easily. So sometimes I did have to put a stop to it. But he had such a fertile mind, it was great fun to work with him. He didn’t take things too seriously, and his sense of humour was wicked. You can see that, especially in Josh, but also in the kind of comedy he brought in. All those funny lines, even that bit about the bakery turning into a rat house, that’s all him.

There are so many wild casting stories around Josh! Is it true that you originally wanted Aamir and Shah Rukh together in the film?

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.

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. 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.

Did Aamir ever see Josh? What was his reaction to it?

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.”

Also Read | When Mansoor Khan asked Priya Gill to hit Shah Rukh Khan ‘with force’: ‘It was most embarrassing part of my career, entire set was silent’

How was it working with Anu Malik on the music of Josh?

So my first choice was actually AR Rahman. I went and met him, but I suddenly realised, Rahman is excellent, no doubt, but his work style is very different, and he’s quite elusive. I’m used to sitting with music directors and really being involved, because I play music myself. I record, I compose my own songs. In fact, that’s a big part of my life now, which I had ignored for a long time. The thing is, I like to interact closely, right from selecting the tune, obviously, but even down to the instrumentation and arrangement. I want a certain sound. I want a specific drum sound, a certain electric guitar tone. I don’t want screeching violins. They can definitely be used, but in the right way, not the overused, clichéd way they often are.

And I knew that kind of hands-on process wouldn’t happen with Rahman. So when I came back from Chennai, I called him and said, “I’m sorry, Rahman, this is not working out.” He was very gracious and understanding. Now, Anu, since I had worked with him on Akele Hum Akele Tum, he was already pitching for this film. He knew I was about to start something new, and he was hoping I’d take him again. I had actually told him, “No, Anu, this time I’m going to work with Rahman.” But when that didn’t work out, I came back and called him, and he was thrilled. And honestly, Anu is really one of a kind. He’s full of tunes, he’s a melody guy.

Whose idea was it to have Shah Rukh sing “Apun Bola”?

I’m so glad you brought this up. So, I had actually heard “Aati Kya Khandala” way before anyone else had—way before any of the guys had heard it. But it just didn’t fit into my film. I realised that Aati Kya Khandala, from a musical standpoint too, and also in terms of tone, just didn’t belong. I really liked the song, it was exciting, but I don’t like forcing things into a film when they don’t naturally fit where I want them to go. Actually, maybe it’s a good thing they took it, because they kept the original lyrics, which were perfect for what it was. If I had taken the tune, I might have taken the lyrics somewhere else, and maybe it would have worked, maybe not. So, coming to your question, I think, yeah, maybe I did get inspired because Aamir had sung Khandala. That’s when I thought, “Hey, let Shah Rukh sing, it should feel more like him.” Because that’s really his only song in the film. I mean, not the only song, but the one that really needs to reflect his character. Like “Sailaru Sailare”, that one, honestly, anyone else could’ve sung it too. In fact, someone else might’ve done it even better.

Were you disappointed with the way the film performed at the box office?

The first thing is, reception never really affects me. When I finish a film, for me, it’s all about whether I feel I’ve done a good job. Whether I’ve stayed true to the premise and rendered it the way I visualised it. And if I’ve done that, then I feel it’s not bad. Of course, what’s considered good or bad also depends on audience taste. But I go by my own judgment. So I never felt like, even when Aamir told me he didn’t like Josh, that didn’t affect me.

Because, I don’t know, I just felt that there’s something about Akele Hum Akele Tum, Josh, and even Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, my films tend to take time for the audience to really get into them. Like, if you go on YouTube, I used to read comments there, when Akele Hum had just released, the internet was just starting to become a thing. And maybe 10 years after its release, I’d start seeing reviews that were like, “Oh okay, decent film, nice story, this and that…” But if you read the comments now, of all my films, Akele Hum actually has the most engagement. On one particular channel alone, it’s got nearly 70 million views. And it’s not just about the number of views, people might watch and move on. But the comments, they’re like, “Oh my God, I cried my heart out,” “What a film,” you know? Times have changed. So the taste and preferences also evolve.

Finally, we’ve heard whispers that you may be returning to filmmaking after all these years. Is that true? Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on?

See, let me tell you that I have written two books. The first one is non-fiction, called, The Third Curve, and it’s about the concept of perpetual economic growth. It questions whether such growth is truly possible or sustainable, and explores how we’ve built an entire global belief system around the idea of endless growth, treating it almost like a religion. It critically examines how symbolic financial instruments like hedge funds and stock markets contribute to an illusion of growth, disconnected from real productivity.

The second book is fiction, titled, One: The Story of the Ultimate Myth. It deals with deep ecological and cultural themes. It argues that it’s not all of humanity, but specifically the culture of civilization that is responsible for the destruction of the planet, through its values of expansion, dominance, and consumption. The book explores how civilisation behaves like a virus, converting or wiping out other cultures, and how our understanding of “progress” and “advanced” cultures is flawed. And I’m in the process of adapting this book for the screen and hoping to collaborate with Aamir on it.