Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Fit and Fine

 

            From dialogues to screenplay and background score to the production design, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is the closest to what they call as flawless filmmaking. With a write up of smoothly flowing story, Prasoon Joshi takes us deep into the reality and emotions of Mr. Milkha Singh’s life.

            The story’s main premise is Milkha declining to participate in a tournament based on an Indo-Pak friendly association, owing to the venue being Pakistan. The reasons why Singh is repelled by the Pakistani venue reveal themselves at proper intervals such that you don’t lose desire to know them. Often playing between many timelines, Prasoon Joshi’s screenplay helps the biopic turn itself into an interesting narrative.

 

 

 

 

            Mehra as the director grabs the opportunity of working on a brilliant script, and does a flawless job himself. Mehra uses fine techniques in showing the reality of Indian villages on the border caught in the Indo-Pak separation post Independence. For instance, the scene where Milkha’s elder sister gets sexually abused by her husband in presence of the entire family. Or the scene where Milkha finds dead bodies of his family post a domestic war. The abuse is brutal, hard hitting and genuinely portrayed by Mehra.

            Mehra smartly puts elements for quick comic relief in the otherwise hard hitting narrative. Prakash Raj surprises, and pleasantly so, in a role of a stern yet loveable military training officer. Or the parts where Milkha romances the various leading ladies are heart-warming. Some sequences with high level of melodrama could have been shortened and softened, but they hardly annoy.

            The film is very well edited by show motion action sequences and extensive use of graphics. The cinematography follows a Rang de Basanti pattern and the shades change according to the timelines. Music is good, not the best of Shankar Ehsan Loy though.

            Farhan Akhtar immerses himself into every bit of the Milkha Singh he understands. From a fabulous body build up to the turban, Akhtar gets it picture perfect and delivers his best work here. The supporting cast is perfect for their respective parts and all the performances amalgamate to create a rock solid film.

 

I am going with an out and out 4 out of 5 for Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. In your busy and fast life, spare a 3 and a half hour slot for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and you won’t regret it.