Movie Review: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Milk… Milk…Milkha!

It might sound strange that the prize which enticed Milkha Singh to grab his first-ever win, was just a glass of milk. But, we are talking about an extraordinary legend who grew up in not quite extraordinary era where people fought hard to meet their basic needs. So, if you think this sounds compelling, then the next two and a half hours is sure to leave you speechless.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a biopic based on the life of Indian legend and former athlete Milkha Singh. Like all the other good biopics, even this movie is full of anguish, disappointment, courage and triumph. The name of the film comes from the last words spoken by Milkha Singh’s father, during the Partition riots.

This movie starts with Milkha Singh (played by Farhan Akhtar) sprinting in the 1960 Olympic Games of Rome, where the coach shouts, “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, unintentionally triggering a series of terrifying flashbacks, costing him an Olympic medal. The film then unfolds the story behind his haunting past, his hardships, his glory and the making of the ‘Flying Sikh’.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is back after not-so-good, not-so-bad film, Delhi 6. He directed this biopic with a lot of conviction and experience. However, there were some goof-ups that destroyed some very good emotional moments. Like the one where the young Milkha (played by Master Jabtej Singh) returns home looking for his mother. He slips twice, once in blood and the second time he lands in between the corpses of his dead parents and relatives. The latter tormented my soul. Sadly, the effect lasted only for few seconds because then my eyes fell on the dead bodies. Except for one or two, the rest were all mannequins. Even ignoring didn’t help, as the boy kept slipping on the same mannequin over and over, for a good few seconds.

The India of 1945-1960 was meticulously depicted, it seems very real. Had they invested the same efforts in depicting the 1956 Melbourne games, the results would have been a lot better. The 1956 Melbourne games seemed like a bunch of young Australian hipsters with an American accent, going to a 1950’s theme party while donning cowboy hats.

If I have to choose between Prasoon Joshi as a lyricist or Prasoon Joshi as a screenplay writer, I’ll still go with the former. However, there is no doubt that as a screenplay and a dialogue writer, he did a splendid job. The movie’s screenplay managed to flow smoothly despite the continuous juggle between the present, the flashback and the flashback inside a flashback. Sounds like Inception, but nowadays, it seems like a trend amongst the writers – Rockstar, Barfi? Writing dialogues for a biopic is always a challenge, one has to fairly portray the era and at the same time and make sure it gels well with the audience. I must say, the dialogues were cleverly written. There were some failed attempts at humour but one can easily look beyond that. Also, how did Milkha starts singing ‘Nanha Munha Rahi Hun’ when the movie (Son of India) featuring this song was actually released in 1962?

The cinematography by Binod Pradhan is strikingly brilliant, mixed with some aesthetic visuals. It’s interesting how he made the bucket of water looks so romantic and tantalizing, at the same time!

Farhan Akhtar proved that there is no luck-by-chance when it comes to acting. Throughout the movie, there wasn’t a single scene where I felt, I was watching Farhan Akhtar. Clearly, he left no stone unturned to get into the skin of this eponymous hero, Milkha Singh.

The young Milkha played by the young Jabtej Singh delivers an equally powerful performance. The movie was supported well with actors like Prakash Raj as a no-nonsense military man, Pavan Malhotra as the army coach who trained Milkha, Yograj Singh as the national athletics coach, Art Malik as Milkha Singh’s father, Rebecca Breeds as Milkha’s Melbourne distraction and Divya Dutta as Milkha’s only sister who does everything she can to protect Milkha despite her own personal problems.

Sonam Kapoor has nothing much to do in the movie and nor does Meesha Shafi or Dalip Tahil.

This movie might not be the biopic you expected but it has its own charm. It takes you back in time, makes you dwell on an inspiring story and leaves you with plenty of goosebumps, on your way back home.

Verdict: Run friends run! Run to your nearest movie theatres, now.

About the Author:

A dreamer by avocation & vocation, Farah Qureshi holds degrees in Commerce and Mass Media Management. She has worked as a Copywriter in an advertising firm and now plans to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer. Apart from writing for brands, she loves writing about things that move & inspire her, with keen interests in movies and music.