‘He was the Usain Bolt of his time’

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They credit him for revolutionising a generation with Rang De Basanti. And even though his second film Delhi 6 did not meet with much commercial success, the critics appreciated it for its insights.

A master storyteller, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is at it again, this time with his latest offering, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag — a film inspired by the life of Flying Sikh Milkha Singh. “It’s not a biopic. Only inspired from his life,” he is quick to mention.
Clearly smitten by his subject he says, “He was the Usain Bolt of his time. An athlete who won 77 of the 80 races that he ever participated in. He was essentially India’s first ambassador outside of politics.”
Giving us an insight into the athlete’s world he adds, “He would train so hard that he would often urinate and even vomit blood. But that wouldn’t stop him. During training, the first three runners would be given a glass of milk and two raw eggs as reward. He would mutter ‘milk milk’ under his breath and push himself to the finishing line so he could sip on his favourite drink.”
Apart from Milkha’s sprinting escapades, the film also chronicles his early life during the Partition and gives an insight into the little-known aspects of his life. “Since he was a village boy who later joined the army without formal education, he was not exposed to English. He would only greet international players with the words ‘Milkha Singh, India, 400 metres’.”
The film has been shot in some of the remotest locations up North. “We travelled for hours to reach the back of beyond to a place which was somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We needed a place to be put up for a crew of 250 people, but the people opened their hearts up for us. Farhan stayed at an MLA’s house, I stayed in a military cantonment and the crew was put up at various local places. The military has no policy for film shoots, but when they came to know that the film was based on Milkha, they were more than willing to help.”
In fact, all the jawans in the film (except three) are real army men. Even the athletes for that matter, are genuine top runners from different countries. How was it shooting with non-actors. “Oh much easier. Since they don’t have hangups,” he quips.