Movie review of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Movie review of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Pawan Malhotra, Sonam Kapoor, Prakash Raj, Divya Dutta, Art Malik, Yograj Singh

Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

The Indian Express rating: ** 1/2

Are you relaxing? No, I am Milkha Singh. This is one of those legendary jokes that typifies a couple of things: Punjabi humour in all its quirky broadness, and the man who is supposed to have said it, the legendary athlete who broke records on national and international tracks, and became a byword for sporting excellence in India.

I’ve always thought the line was apocryphal. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s film, ‘inspired by a true life’ grounds the joke in a moment, and cements the tone of the film. Carefully skirting the tag of a bio-pic, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag manages to tell the story of Milkha Singh, as enacted by Farhan Akhtar, while giving us, tiresomely, all the familiar bells and whistles of a Bollywood entertainer with the naach-gaana, and the rona-dhona.

The story of Milkha Singh is inspirational, doubtless. And Mehra leaves, literally, not one stone unturned (and adds a few of his own, doubtless) in this three hour and some saga, which takes us from Milkha’s childhood in then Punjab-now Pakistan, the trauma of Partition and being torn from his (Milkha’s) family, his lawless youth, his joining the Indian Army and gaining respectability. And then learning the joys of running. For himself, and for the honour of his nation.

But the way the director tells it is much less inspiring. It’s almost as if he needs