Rakesh Omprakash Mehra raises the bar for Indian films

Rating: 10/10 (14 July 2013)

I will start off with the technicals first and what's better than to start off with the editing. PS Bharati has the most short yet one of the most impressive resumes ever. The editing was immaculate. A huge number of "Bollywood" films fail to edit simple linear stories in a way that the editing doesn't interfere with storytelling. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag's on-screen presentation was non-linear and at no point do you feel lost. The editing was so precise that you know exactly which era of the story you are being told.
Next, the sound-mixing and score. From the moment the film begins and you hear the background score for the first time, you automatically associate it to an epic saga which will unfold before you momentarily. And it does. The original score by SLE in association with the sound mixing department just blended together so well. SLE's score could have done well on its own, but I think the mixing department gave it the treatment it deserved.
Lets now divert the focus to Binod Pradhan (pun totally intended). This man has proved his genius before and he held no bars this time either. He knew exactly where to point the camera and at what angles. Often times I've noticed cinematographers simply point the camera lens to an impressive landscape to showcase their prowess as a cinematographer. Selecting the landscape and the equipment is just the start, what you do with that is a different ball game altogether. Binod Pradhan captured the subtle nuances of Farhan Akhtar with such detail, that you don't even need verbal verification of what's going on in the character's mind. And ROM did an excellent job of keeping it that way rather than dumbing it down and explaining everything that was running through (yes, another pun) Milkha's mind. Binod knew exactly what element had what importance in each scene and managed to capture them with utmost sincerity.
As a writer, Prasoon Joshi hasn't yet marked his territory until now. With just this one script, he has proved that he is capable of joining the big guns of the Indian film industry. I hope this isn't his one-hit- wonder. One thing's for sure, I will certainly be very excited for a movie which Prasoon Joshi pens.
The acting. It goes without saying that Farhan Akhtar wasn't Farhan Akhtar in the movie. He was Milkha Singh. I had my reservations about Farhan Akhtar, since I thought he might bring in that element into the character that would seem a little over fetched. Like his additional humor which might only prove to distract rather than entertain. But Farhan Akhtar showed such grace and resilience by overcoming his one minor (very minor) quip and embodied the character in a way which I believe no one else could. He deserves recognition for this movie far beyond what is already provided to him. He made us care about Milkha Singh and his family. He made us care about running. He made us care about our nation. What Milkha Singh actually went through in his real life was nothing short of a living and brooding hell. He not only fought his past, but he carved out a path for himself that would allow all Indians the fortune of raising their heads high. And we lived part of it through Farhan Akhtar.
From Dalip Tahil to Yograj Singh to Meesha Shafi; everyone did true justice to the roles they had to portray. None of the casting seemed out of place.
I think that provides me the perfect segue to talk about the man behind it all - Rakesh Omprakash Mehra. It was his job to gather everything I mentioned in my review above and present it to the viewer. He went above and beyond his duty to narrate a tale of romance, heartbreak, the will to achieve, and inspire. The storytelling was a stroke of genius. A movie that could just as well be another inspiring story about a man who led India to glory was not just that. It was an insight into the character that ROM crafted. I'm saying that because not all events depicted in the film were actual. This is exactly the reason I labeled the storytelling as genius. ROM took an already inspiring life-story, added a little filmmaking magic and presented something that only a genius filmmaker could present. ROM doesn't claim the story to be an exact re-telling of Milkha Singh's life and this is what the viewer should expect when ROM mentions that it's "inspired by a true life-story" and not "based on true life-story". He knew exactly how and when to trap into the viewer's emotional side and when to play the humour card, for instance. ROM successfully managed to convert the entire cinema hall into a roller-coaster that takes you through the tragic, and yet prominently successful story of Milkha Singh, one of the nation's truest heroes. ROM not only used the tools he was provided to tell a story, but he contributed an offering that would raise the bar of what is expected of a good film in the future. I can only hope that ROM receives all the appreciation he so rightfully deserves for the masterpiece that is Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.