A tad too long, a bit too confusing

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2013)

Excepting a few parts of the movie (and they were too far between), the movie seems like a wastage of screen time. I felt it was a tad too long, a bit too confusing. Is it a sports movie? Is it a partition saga? Is it a love story? Well, yes to all, and no. It does not have enough adrenaline to call it an unadulterated sports movie. It does not have enough heart for a partition saga. As for love-story, you'll know when you see it. There were huge chunks of the 3 hr 8 mins movie, that I could do without. In fact, the so called romantic parts could have been removed altogether, and no body would have missed them. The cinematic appearance too had different feel before and after intermission. After a promising start, the story moves between Milkha's army and running career and his past demons. Post intermission, the feel is of a badly edited yesteryear's Doordarshan serial. Its as if the makers can't make their own mind which emotion to settle on. And its confusing for the viewer so be thrown from one context to the next, esp when it seems all haphazard. Watch if you have nothing better to do. Rating: 2/5