Bhaag Milkha Bhaag-Movie Review

                      

                                 Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Hindi).

Cast:                  Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, Prakash Raj and Divya Dutta.

Directed by:      Rakeysh Om Praksh Mehra.

Written By:       Prasoon Joshi.

Music:               Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy.

The Story:

‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ is a biopic on Milkha Singh, an athlete, who is also known as ‘TheFlying Sikh’. It is the story of a young boy, who is caught in the chaos caused by the India- Pakistan partition, which results in riots and commotion in the Punjab part of Pakistan. Milkha Singh’s (Farhan Akhtar) parents are killed in the riot and he moves to Delhi, where he meets his sister (Divya Dutta). Singh gets into the habit of stealing and later falls in love with Biro (Sonam Kapoor). However, Biro advices Milkha to lead an honest life.

Later Milkha Singh joins the Indian army. Milkha Singh gets noticed by the Sergeant (Prakash Raj) in the army and gets selected for the Melbourne Olympics. He trains hard for the Olympics, but loses the race. Later when he comes back to India, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, tells him to lead the Indian Team to Pakistan, for friendly races. However, when he reaches Pakistan, Milkha Singh is once again haunted by the childhood memories of his parents and the last words that were spoken by his dying father were, ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. It were these very words, which were said by a coach in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, which resulted in him dropping to the fourth position. However, later Milkha Singh wins in several places including Pakistan and it is the Pakistani Commander, who gives him the title ‘The Flying Sikh’.

Review:

Must say, that the movie is a perfect tribute to ‘The Flying Sikh’. Except for some melodrama and songs, which need some justification, the film is a must watch for all to get motivated and inspired, from the life of Milkha Singh.

Farhan Akhtar fits the bill as Milkha Singh and it is shown, that he has taken all the efforts and has gone that extra mile, to live and look like the legend.Kudos to him to have portrayed the character well.

Though Sonam Kapoor has nothing much to do in the film, she has played her part well and looks nothing like the fashion diva that she is in real life. That is the way she has been expected to look and she has done justice to the role.

The film has been well supported by other casts like Prakash Raj, Pavan Malhotra (as the coach who grooms Milkha Singh) and Divya Dutta (as Milkha Singh’s sister).

Music by Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy is good, but the background score sometimes makes one feel sad.

Must give credits to Binod Pradhan for the outstanding cinematography and amazing visuals.

However, the editing could have been better and this would have helped to cut the lengthy duration of the film, which runs for 188 minutes. The film is slow paced and is a little too long. Rather should say, the film jogs here and there.

Would say that ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ is a must watch for some inspirational moments.