Release date: 12th July 2013
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Rating: 4.25/5
With this review, I am forced to make parametric changes to the rating scale, making the 0.25 increments possible atleast for scores above 3. This is because I am an eternal optimist and hope that I am yet to see the 4.5-5 quality of movies.
It is implicit in the above that I really liked Bhaag Milkha... It is always pleasurable to see a movie where, from the word go, you are certain that the makers have done their research well and have put a lot of heart and effort in the movie. BMB is one such movie.
Right from the impeccable move to cast Farhan Akhtar to making him recraft himself into a veritable Greek God, from the dark gloomy scenes of pre-partition Punjab to shooting at breathtaking locales in Ladakh, the director left no stone unturned to bring his vision to fruition.
Farhan Akhtar completes his transformation from a director-actor to an actor-director with this one. If this doesn't get him a bagful of awards, I have no idea what will. The depiction of the coach-athlete or rather guru-shishya is heart warming. The movie also manages to pepper the heavy emotion plot with light humorous moments, especially from Milkha's regiment days.
What impresses one is the deft cinematography. Visuals of Milkha's ghosts from the past are haunting. One sequence I would want to mention here is when Milkha wraps his messages to his love interest in a rubber ball and throws it atop her balcony - the montage of scenes with the ball landing in a colourful array of things like red chillies, turmeric, splashing a bucket of water is camerawork at its best.
What could have made things better? A shorter run-time. There were things which could have been done away with, well, like Sonam Kapoor. What could have also made the story more digestible was showing some folly on the part of Milkha. I am sure the real life Milkha is a hero, but portraying him as a sort of a demi-god was avoidable. Another thing here - it is my request to stop depicting Pakistan as if it is a land of evil, bitter people. Although it might have been done as a stepping stone to Milkha's heightened patriotism, showing the Pakistani coach, the athlete, the press (save General Ayub Khan) as ruthless, foul-mouthed bastards while the Indian contingent plays victimized souls is extremely pathetic.
The background score is, unsurprisingly, appropriate. SEL all the way, baby! All in all , a definite watch this summer. A big thanks to the team for bringing out a good story from a less-talked about sport, and doing complete justice to it.
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