Open Your Mind
Film: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Pawan Malhotra, Sonam Kapoor, Prakash Raj, Divya Dutta, Art Malik, Yograj Singh
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Certification: U/A
Rating: ***
As Milkha Singh walks into Rome's 1960 Olympic stadium for the 400m final and soaks in the atmosphere of the roaring crowd, with a little help from the background score, the energy is instantly contagious. The epic race is what Indians remember him by (now of course there is this film). What a dampener when he loses a place on the podium by a whisker. If only Bhaag Milkha Bhaag could change history.
Actually it does romanticize the telling of Milkha's already dramatic life. This is some incredible source material, but writers Prasoon Joshi and Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra aren't content and go on to make tenuous connections, fabricate episodes, and of course add lip-sync songs to attempt a Bollywood-friendly film. I suppose they succeed in this, but I'm not sure any of this was required at all considering the daunting run time of 187 minutes.
It is in this regard the writing and editing departments pat themselves on the back and indulge each other. If they'd been at loggerheads, it would've resulted in a leaner, tighter telling and that would've gone a long way in making BMB a modern-day classic. The tonality of the film's various moods: primarily sports and romance are not consistent or cohesive with awkward transitions (on the other hand, transitions to flashbacks are superbly executed with seamless VFX).
Partition plays a crucial part in defining The Flying Sikh's life, and the film alludes a significant second factor that shapes him: his trysts with women. The first half seeks to list Milkha's motivating factors to run: His first exercise where he discovers he can run; a flashback within a flashback to his childhood with his proud father; his quick, fun, simple courtship with his first love Biro (Sonam Kapoor) that first inspires him to glory. Finally an
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Pawan Malhotra, Sonam Kapoor, Prakash Raj, Divya Dutta, Art Malik, Yograj Singh
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Certification: U/A
Rating: ***
As Milkha Singh walks into Rome's 1960 Olympic stadium for the 400m final and soaks in the atmosphere of the roaring crowd, with a little help from the background score, the energy is instantly contagious. The epic race is what Indians remember him by (now of course there is this film). What a dampener when he loses a place on the podium by a whisker. If only Bhaag Milkha Bhaag could change history.
Actually it does romanticize the telling of Milkha's already dramatic life. This is some incredible source material, but writers Prasoon Joshi and Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra aren't content and go on to make tenuous connections, fabricate episodes, and of course add lip-sync songs to attempt a Bollywood-friendly film. I suppose they succeed in this, but I'm not sure any of this was required at all considering the daunting run time of 187 minutes.
It is in this regard the writing and editing departments pat themselves on the back and indulge each other. If they'd been at loggerheads, it would've resulted in a leaner, tighter telling and that would've gone a long way in making BMB a modern-day classic. The tonality of the film's various moods: primarily sports and romance are not consistent or cohesive with awkward transitions (on the other hand, transitions to flashbacks are superbly executed with seamless VFX).
Partition plays a crucial part in defining The Flying Sikh's life, and the film alludes a significant second factor that shapes him: his trysts with women. The first half seeks to list Milkha's motivating factors to run: His first exercise where he discovers he can run; a flashback within a flashback to his childhood with his proud father; his quick, fun, simple courtship with his first love Biro (Sonam Kapoor) that first inspires him to glory. Finally an