Just watched Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Here is (purely) MY REVIEW from my point of view.

BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG

As far as I am concerned, the movie did not live up to what was expected. No don’t panic, I don’t exactly mean Bhaag Viewer Bhaag!! At its core, it is a good movie, a very good movie, in fact. An inspirational biopic almost always touches the heart. PAAN SINGH TOMAR is a case in point. The problem with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is that even though it is honestly made, it gives a feeling that the story could have been told in a much better way.

First, the Good Points.

FARHAN AKHTAR is known to be a hard working method actor and he has already hogged enough media space with stories and pictures of how he has readied himself for the role. In this regard, Farhan needs to be complimented for having prepared extremely well for the role. Not just his physique but his running stance and athletic mannerisms also match that of a professional athlete. Acting wise also, he has done a fair job. As far as the side actors go, PAVAN MALHOTRA stands out as his Army coach. Pavan performs these kind of roles with extreme ease. Those of my time will remember him from Nukkad and Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro days and will agree that he was made for bigger things than just doing odd sardar roles (remember Jab We Met). PRAKASH RAJ is underutilized although he did justice to whatever little space he got. DIVYA DUTTA, as usual has done well in a tailormade role of a Punjabi lady. To say that SONAM KAPOOR has been underutilized will in itself be an understatement, such has been her unemploybility. I thought Pandit Nehru was slightly caricatured. The camera work is very good, especially the fast running and slow motion clips are extremely clear as are the close up shots of feet hitting the track and soil scattering. The background score is good and is not too loud during dialogue delivery. Overall, the direction is good.

Now with a heavy heart, the Not So Good Points.

Too much of FARHAN’S TIME is spent in song and dance which brings me to the issue of songs. TOO MANY SONGS mean that a Rajdhani train has been converted into a normal passenger train with too many stoppages. The songs serve as unnecessary distraction and there are quite a few of them. A song situation like that in “Slow Motion Angreza” is difficult to digest. Milkha singing and dancing with an Australian girl in a pub in Melbourne was absolutely not required. Such things take away the realism from a biopic. All this stretches the movie beyond the comfort level. So much time is given to Milkha’s love life and partition flashback that many of the important international wins are just shown as a slideshow. These things make the movie more filmy and less biopic. The flashback is too disjointed with too many to and fro cuts, at times leaving the audience confused as to which stage of youth Milkha is in. Farhan sports a heavily muscled six pack which seemed overkill to me as Milkha in his prime had a lean and toned body without a conventional six pack. The number of women who are shown attracted to Milkha would make even SRK cringe. The track showing the Indian swimmer Perizaad getting close to Milkha was just not required.

Having seen both PAAN SINGH TOMAR and BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG, I can’t help but compare the two. FARHAN is very good but he has not brought rustic touch to his character like IRFAN has done to his in Paan Singh Tomar. But then probably, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra never wanted it that way. Perhaps, he wanted to make a “Bollywoodish” biopic.

FINAL COMMENTS

When you see the movie, you want to LIKE it for Farhan’s efforts, for Milkha’s achievements or simply for the fact that for once we are talking of a sport other than cricket even if in reel life. But you can’t thoroughly enjoy it. It’s like going for those unbelievable “End of Season” sales where you feel you have got a great bargain until you get entangled in the TERMS and CONDITIONS.

But despite its weak points, it is still a movie to watch for Farhan and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Don’t go looking for a serious biopic, though.