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It is said that a book should
never be judged by its movie. Likewise, I think a movie should never be judged
by its theme. Milkha Singh has always come across to me as the ‘flying sikh’
who won medals for India in Asian games and Commonwealth games, and how he
missed by a whisker a medal in 1960 Rome Olympics. Therefore I expected the
movie to highlight his triumphs; to tell us about his chief rivals at the games,
and how he managed to overcome them to bag the medals. Quite frankly, I was
looking for a ‘Chak De India’ kind of flavor in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Therefore,
I was quite disappointed by the movie. A set of generous media reviews and a decent
crowd at the multiplex on a rainy July Monday evening reinforced further my
hopes from the film. But not only was the film excruciatingly long, it was
boring in most parts, and I found myself looking at the watch waiting for the
interval much before it actually happened. I had expected the movie to portray
Milkha the ATHLETE and his quest for excellence in the track and field. But
alas, the movie is about Milkha the MAN who suffered the pains of the partition
(So what, millions others did too, and we have scores of movies on the
subject), his struggle for existence post-partition including his
knife-wielding days, his days in the army, his love life, his one-night stands,
AND also his achievements as a star Indian athlete. The parts that depict his
real winnings on the tracks at the international level are run through as a
brief documentary somewhere in the dying stages of the three hour long movie,
added with a final little-known hurray in which he is shown to defeat an
arch-rival Pakistani athlete in Pakistan- a time-tested method of whipping up a
patriotic fervor among the audience. But alas, that too somehow failed to leave
a mark. The movie, therefore, should be seen as a biography of Milkha the man
who happened to be an athlete. The narrative is confusing with the story
jumping from Milkha the victim of partition, Milkha the lover, Milkha the army
man and Milkha the athlete.
The movie could have been
excellent had Milkha’s past as refugee from Pre-partition Multan been kept
brief, for example there was no need to show his sister being made furious and
noisy love to by her scoundrel husband in a refugee camp tent shared by Milkha
and two other unknown boys who wear knowing smirk on their faces as they hear
the couple copulate. There was no need to show the gory killing of his family
as a fall-out of Partition. There was no need to show a prolonged quest by
Milkha for his lady love Sonam Kapoor. In short, many lengthy portions of the
movie could have been either done away with completely or could have been
shortened.
Most people have been very
impressed by the six-pack body that Farhan Akhtar built for his role including
his bulging biceps marked with engorged veins and a bulky set of pectorals
across his chest. However, there is a technical flaw that all of us seem to
overlook. A sprinter does not need a strong upper body. On the contrary, a
heavy upper body would impede his run on the tracks and that is why most
runners strive to keep themselves skinny and make their leg muscles strong. But
we can accept that for the sake of the movie it was essential to show the hero
with a six-pack.
Performances have been good.
Farhan looks perfect for the job but I would have preferred Ajay Devgan for the
role. Sonam Kapoor and other actors did not have much to do though Sonam looked
good for a change. However, one is surprised to see Sonam playing a role of a
1950s girl wearing gaudy lipstick and an eye-shadow. Other roles are character
roles and the best one is played by Divya Dutta, playing Milkha’s elder sister.
Music by the trio Shankar
Ehasaan Loy is good, and the number ‘havan karenge’ is catchy, and has been
choreographed beautifully. Another song
that I liked is ‘mera yaar’..
Go and watch the movie only if
you are a die-hard fan of Farhan Akhtar.
My rating: 2.5 on 5
