Flying Colours of the Flying Sikh

Rating: 8/10 (6 November 2013)

There's always a phase in a viewer's life when the aftermath of an eventful yet simple experience like watching a movie triggers a million inspirational thoughts, creates a thousand stimulations by producing endless faith in any task you choose to take up, parts of the movie stay with you for life almost leaving an indelible mark!
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag just refuses to leave your thoughts and stays with you until the time either slumber takes its toll or you impulsively google the word 'Milkha Singh'. I did just that, read up all that I could about the real Milkha, trying to decipher facts from fictitious reformations in the movie. The film begins with Milkha running and ends with the same, but what is different is the way the music is woven into both the scenes and the way situational transformation is depicted with the help of the camera which is either revolving around our very own sprinting glory, or the track. What struck me the most was brilliance with which Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra manages to keep you on the edge of your seats during every race track scene.
Rang De Basanti was a life changing experience and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag proves to be another one! Mehra makes sure that every lead that he chooses for his film fits to the T. In fact Farhan Akhtar has almost disappeared into the seriousness of his role. He is no more the fun loving yet simple lover boy, instead we don't see him anywhere in the film until he starts dancing with a 'white girl' (that's when Farhan pokes his head out but only to drown back into the deeply rooted character of a simpleton who struggled all his life- Milkha Singh). The character is so complex with its undergoing metamorphosis that it takes a while to understand the bottom line: A simple man who had ordinary dreams of falling in love, starting a family, with a stable job faces a tragedy unveiling the strength within himself and his dreams.
A strong historical and political point of view emerges when the Indian national leader Jawaharlal Nehru ingresses into the plot. And there Milkha is, chasing those dreams with a prudential view of what he wants to achieve, just once does he make the mistake of losing his focus or looking back and loses all that he always wanted.
Highlights: 1.Farhan Akhtar and his augmentation as an actor. He grows on you by the end of the film! 2.Hilarious moments where you learn a few Punjabi words like tunni and use them very often just to scandalize your parents. 3.Visual narratives depicted through flashbacks that Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra uses very efficiently. 4.Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy- Need I say more? Just two words- Mesmerizing as well as upbeat! 5.There is an unconscious genesis of inspiration, which is a rarity while watching a lot of films these days. 6.Divya Dutta was amazing in her own way, she has been one of my favorite actors in a supporting role especially after her performance in Veer Zaara.
Drawbacks: 1.The American athlete Charles Jenkins Sr inspired Milkha Singh but throughout this film the brief meet was an inconspicuous affair. 2.Sonam Kapoor looked as pretty as ever, but the pretty face could not conceal her futility as an actor. (By the end of the film you wonder why she was even there in the film?) Or land up assuming that maybe she has a role conveniently tailored in this way to avoid messing up the second half. 3.Building a nexus between reality and fiction was done successfully but when it comes to showing gratitude to the man( The real Milkha Singh) who cooperated very well when it came to making this film it was limited to a few pictures. Also note that the pictures of his achievements were screened but just a few of them were, that too at the very beginning on the film. 4.As I mentioned earlier the film is extended to a duration to which an ordinary film watcher would probably be too worked up to even wait until it ends and watch the original Milkha Singh pictures( Unfortunately the edited sketchy one's). 5.The secondary focus could have been shifted to the politics and power at play in the armed forces and the field of sports by eliminating the numerous flings that Milkha Singh 'almost' had. (Although those flings added some steamy element to the film but diluted the seriousness of it to a certain extent).
Conclusion: A one time watch unless you have the patience to sit through it again and need to pump yourself up for a very crucial day of your life. (Minus your wedding that is, I think even Milkha Singh can't help you on that day!) You realize how heavy the burden of stress on an athlete is when the hopes of 1.241 billion are pinned on him or her. It is a film which is wonderfully crafted by the director and I can bet my bottom dollar on the fact that this time Farhan Akhtar will win the best actor award!