Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

If there was any doubt about whether Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s family had a long-standing feud with that of Milkha Singh then it cannot be more obvious.  I say this because of the several methods available for revenge, ROM has resorted to the one that is cheapest, meanest and downright scumbaggish.  He has successfully destroyed the legacy of who “was” probably India’s best athlete to date.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag lost me in the first frame itself where the compromise in finishing stares blatantly at your face.  Milkha’s (Farhan Akhtar) entry is set to background of a green screen that cannot look more obvious.  The crowds at the Olympic Stadium in the background look and feel ask fake as the movie landed up being eventually.

 

After the debacle of the Rome Olympics, Milkha goes into a shell and refuses to take part in the upcoming “Friendship Games” with our neighbours to the west.  And that my forms the premise of The Flying Sikh’s decision to look over his shoulder in the race of his life.  A memory of how his family was slaughtered during the partition.  So if someone says “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” he hallucinates.  A fact that no one notices all through his star studded career.  Not just downright ridiculous but blatantly insulting!!!

 

And then there are the finer nuances of how well chiseled Farhan Akhtar looks with his 8 packs and bursting viens.  Athletes are lanky and fit – not goddamn models.  Of course Milkha also apparently ran his races in Adidas spikes and practiced in the Ladakh Desert wearing his Timberland / Salomon shoes which were sent back to him in time just for this purpose.

 

By now, you would have seen several casting gaffes as well.  Dalip Tahil as Pandit Nehru will make you split your sides in scenes meant to be serious.  Sonam Kapoor giggling drew an equally atrocious giggle from someone in the audience and a round of applause followed.  No one in the entire movie acted or appeared to act – with the exception of the ever reliable Pawan Malhotra who was outstanding.

 

Divya Dutta’s nails were clearly manicured by some enterprising beauty parlour who had set up shop at the border because they knew of the money they could make.  Ditto for Sonam Kapoor as well whose make up is visible even through the strands of hair that keep falling over her face with an intent to of course show an unkempt village belle.  Meesha Shafi’s role is restricted to being a flight attendant and wearing a swimsuit.

 

To me, the kicker in the shitter was when Stella (Rebecca Breeds) asks the Indian contingent, “Will you be relaxing today”? The response, “No ji, Milkha Singh”.  Prasoon Joshi – were you on dope when you wrote this? You didn’t think even once that it was a rank bad insult to someone who is a Padma Shri?

 

ROM can send me his address and I will definitely send him a copy of Chariots of Fire.  That is how you make a biopic on an athlete Shri Mehra.  At no point of time do you insult people of national / international importance.  Whatever personal vendetta you have against him – take it somewhere else.  3 on 10.  And yes, when the world said ROM was bad, I said otherwise.  Maybe it is time to turn the tables. Disappointed.

 

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY3qfhYPJSI