Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag works for two basic reasons. One it is based on the story of a sports person whose personal life is dramatic enough to keep you engaged apart from its racing track achievements and second it is played by Farhan Akhtar who plays his role as if he is really Milkha Singh himself. Farhan Akhtar excels playing Milkha Singh like Ben Kingsley excelled playing Gandhi. Farhan Akhtar seems to be enjoying every bit of the movie. When he runs, he runs like a tiger. When he dances, he dances like a pure Punjabi. When he loves, he loves with innocence and passion. Farhan Akhtar can easily be given all best actor awards of 2013. All supporting actors give their best. Divya Dutta is excellent, Sonam Kapoor looks fresh, Pawan Malhotra and Parkash Raj's performance are heartwarming. Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is first rate and awe inspiring. Rakeyesh Omprakash Mehra like an expert captain provides movie its uniqueness, technical perfection, soul and purpose. Like an every fantastic experience, this also comes with its dull moments. Movie takes around extra half an hour before reaching to its finale. Rangrezz song could have been avoided and prolonged sequences of Milkha's achievements could have been shortened. Dilip Tahil playing Pandit Nehru looks like a missed stroke. At the end, you can safely say, you had a great time running with Farhan Akhtar for more than 3 hours. Run to your nearest theater now to watch this powerful biopic.

I watched a Paid-Preview of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag last night and I was star-strucked by its fame watching the house-full crowd in the theater (as if it is the first day of the release). When I first watched its teaser in October last year and first trailer in January..it had me going since then, and now I am happy that my expectation was worth it.

BRIEF STORY & REVIEW SKETCH.

The film is about Milkha Singh and introspects his being through the eyes of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. There are no twists or turns in the movie but its just a tale told on a clean slate. Film starts with a defeat in Olympics, carried on when Milkha refuses to visit Pakistan (has his valid reasons for doing so) but Pt. Nehru sends Milkha's latter and former coach to Chandigarh so that they can convince him for the tour. During the train-journey, Pavan Malhotra (former coach) reveals the story of Milkha Singh and his reason to not visit Pakistan to the other two gentlemen which unleashes an assiduous, interesting and penultimate story about the legend. This Sikh has been running his whole life, starting his first race for a glass of milk to the Olympics..and never ending. It reminds me of the great metaphor ' The race of Life'. Milkha Singh ran to save his life, to eat, to dream, for love, for country, for passion and to overcome his own personal fears, ''and what a run it was!''. BMB traces his scarred childhood, brutalized by India's partition ; followed by penury and petty crimes. He finds the purpose of life when he falls for Beeru (Sonam). Joins the Indian Army and since then his passion, eagerness and situations along with the efforts (negative & positive both) made by different people led him to become an athlete, a runner who remained uncased even by his own daemons. He keeps on breaking records but witnesses a heartbreaking defeat in Rome Olympics (1960) but thats not it, he takes it in his stride, overcomes his catastrophic past which was the cause of Olympic defeat and emerges out to be a clear winner.

OVERVIEW

ROPM delivers yet again a tale in his own style (fond of changing tones in his films), where the length is bit of a disappointment otherwise the content heals the flaw with a superb execution and sticky pace, that tops with Farhan Akhtar's outstanding performance (the actor gave his blood n sweat into the character) and he emerges out to be the soul of the movie physically and mentally. The story by Prasoon Joshi is admirable and the track 'Zinda' is well written by him, beautifully composed by Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy and descriptively choreographed by Shaimak Davar. The background score by the trio adds on to the whole movie. The performances from the other cast is noticeable where Divya Dutta deserves a special mention (Hats off to the lady for creating a great impact in spite of having such a small role) The film truly deserves to be one of the best that Bollywood has offered this year so far and I hope to see some more in-depth biopics like this in coming future.

I'd rate this dig-till-hell marvel biopic as 8/10.

BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG is a biopic directed by Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, starring Farhan Akthar and Sonam Kapoor.

The film revolves around the life story of Milkha Singh.

Everyone who is associated with this film has done a GREAT job. The directors... the writers... the actors... EVERYONE. When the first look of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag came, we were shocked how similar Farhan Akthar looked like Milkha Singh, and his acting has showed us that not only is he a GREAT actor, but he can mostly do any role by now. His portrayal of Milkha Singh was outstanding.

The film starts off a BIT slow, but you manage to keep with its pace. Inspite of the film being 3h10m, you never feel bored; instead, you find yourself stuck in the world of Milkhaji- poverty, love and speed.

The replay value of this film is very high. Its very entertaining.

The acting, as said above, is very good. Other than Farhan Akthar delivering an award-winning performance, every other actor did a great job. Sonam Kapoor didn't have much to do in the screenplay, but she did it quite well.

The film does depend on each person's likes and tastes. A person who enjoys watching the so-called 'masala' flicks, may not enjoy this film due to its different type of story compared to other films. Also, people who can't sit in cinemas for a VERY long time may get annoyed at the fact that its a 3h10m film.

But Overall, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is an award-winning film. It shows us the life of Milkha Singh through his very own eyes and deserves a standing ovation for its performances, writing and direction. Truly Inspiring...

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag!- 10/10

I would certainly be disappointed if this movie doesn't get nominated for the best foreign language film in the academy awards. Farhan Akhtar is like the epitome of dedication towards Milkha Singh's character. He was running like a pro. Cinematography was just amazing. Many shots were just breathtaking. Direction was just perfect and the casting was sensibly done. Parallel storytelling kept the movie balanced between Milkha Singh's life and his sports career. The trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy did their job as always.

But one of all, Farhan Akhtar rocked. He has always given his best in every field he has ever stepped in to. Respect for Farhan Akhtar, respect for Milkha Singh, the true hero.

In less than ten minutes into the film, you get goosebumps all over your body. You get into high-spirits and then the story of The Flying Sikh begins...

It talks more about perseverance and how man can excel even in the worst conditions than the actual atheltic history. Milkha Singh, wonderfully portrayed by the talented Farhan Akhtar is one character that induces inspiration. Akhtar now has totally proved himself as a successful actor. His demeanor is appreciable and the film does showcase his hard-work. Supporting cast is very good as well. But, the actresses were sidelined which is very apt for a bio-film.

Most of the story is told in flashbacks and there is where the screenplay works. It grabs your attention. The childhood story MAY bore you a little, but every other biopic has to be honest. Much like last year's Paan Singh Tomar, BMB does have lots of surprises in store. The relation of every detail is astronomical and very well adapted. Fresh writing, inventive editing & below-average SFX/CGI makes me wanna give it a humble 8.0/10.

The songs & score are energetic which do cause an urge that we run with the athletes on-screen. That is the power of Rakeysh O Mehra and his crew. I was blown away by Akhtar's bod and his expressions. Humor touches the script at times, as well.

Overall, an entertaining biography which is well-written and well- executed. Only, the running time of 190 minutes COULD'VE... could've been shortened. Otherwise, everybody rise for this cinema of massive potential.

BOTTOM LINE: A very good entertainer with mentoring prowess. It feels good that the team has brought an epitome into reel. Kudos!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity: No | Nudity: Mild | Sex/Foreplay/Mouth-Kiss: Mild | Violence/Gore: Strong | Alcohol: Mild | Smoking/Drugs: No