Some stories need to be told.
Many people know the Olympic heartbreak of India's greatest runner, but people need to know the tough circumstances and situations in life, braving which this man became the Milkha Singh we know. Suffering partition, to being a wagon breaker and being jailed, to joining the army, losing in love and becoming a champion.
The way such a story is told is very important and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra deserves a standing ovation to have done this with utmost brilliance, with a classy script penned by the very talented Prasoon Joshi. The movie did not focus only on Milkha's running. The core of course is that, but it is very skillfully wrapped around the pangs of partition, human relations, choices in life, nostalgia and fighting one's own demons.
The cinematography perfectly capture the haunting memories of partition, the competitive spirit of the training and the races, the complete essence of those times.
Like life, the movie has humour, pain, love, competition, defeat and victory, a real biopic in the true sense.
Farhan Akhtar is unbelievable in the movie. We often hear that actors need to "get into the character" of the role they are portraying, something many of our superstars are often unable to do. Here Farhan Akhtar just becomes Milkha Singh, he took his soul. The Sikh mannerisms, accent, style, attitude, everything is spot on! One would not find a strain of the characters he portrayed in Rock On or Zindagi Na Milega Dobara. However the most amazing part is the way he has built his body and the way he ran in the movie. The ones who have followed people like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt would say he ran just like a real top class athlete would. The technique, coordination of hands and legs, falling over the finishing line, flawless! Brilliant director, singer and now roles like this, the junior Akhtar surely would end up as one of the most talented Bollywood has ever seen.
I would be surprised if he does not get a national award for this performance, he has trumped someone like Irfan in Pan Singh Tomar. So some other actor would really have to work out of his skin to beat this performance and we have very few "actors" anyway!
Farhan is backed by a brilliant choice of other actors and their performances, for the other roles. Divya Dutta as Milkha's elder sister is impeccable, her expressions sometimes leave a lump in the throat. Espcially the scene where Milkha comes in wearing the Indian blazer. Pawan Malhotra is always perfect in his roles since his days in Nukkad, so it is no surprise that he adds pure value as Milkha's first coach.
Prakash Raj as Milkha's South Indian commander in the army, does well as usual and brings in some humour quotient. Yograj Singh as Milkha's national coach may not have the acting prowess of the other actors, but he did fine too. Maybe the tough ways he trained his son Yuvraj to be a champion in real life, helped him in the role. Sonam Kapoor has very few dialogues, but her scenes as Milkha's love interest are nice and bring back an air of innocent loves from the days gone by.
Most other actors, even in smaller roles, the kid Milkha, his massacred family in Punjab, his friends in differents part of life do their small parts very well, so again credit to the director.
The music and background score of Shankar Ehsaan Loy pep up the movie, though I felt we could have done with couple songs less, since this is anyway a long movie. The movie could have been a bit shorter, notwithstanding it is a biopic, especially in the first half. In case they decide to send this one for the awards, this needs to be trimmed a bit.
However this takes nothing away from the best cinema of 2013 as of now.
4.5 stars for this classic!
Many people know the Olympic heartbreak of India's greatest runner, but people need to know the tough circumstances and situations in life, braving which this man became the Milkha Singh we know. Suffering partition, to being a wagon breaker and being jailed, to joining the army, losing in love and becoming a champion.
The way such a story is told is very important and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra deserves a standing ovation to have done this with utmost brilliance, with a classy script penned by the very talented Prasoon Joshi. The movie did not focus only on Milkha's running. The core of course is that, but it is very skillfully wrapped around the pangs of partition, human relations, choices in life, nostalgia and fighting one's own demons.
The cinematography perfectly capture the haunting memories of partition, the competitive spirit of the training and the races, the complete essence of those times.
Like life, the movie has humour, pain, love, competition, defeat and victory, a real biopic in the true sense.
Farhan Akhtar is unbelievable in the movie. We often hear that actors need to "get into the character" of the role they are portraying, something many of our superstars are often unable to do. Here Farhan Akhtar just becomes Milkha Singh, he took his soul. The Sikh mannerisms, accent, style, attitude, everything is spot on! One would not find a strain of the characters he portrayed in Rock On or Zindagi Na Milega Dobara. However the most amazing part is the way he has built his body and the way he ran in the movie. The ones who have followed people like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt would say he ran just like a real top class athlete would. The technique, coordination of hands and legs, falling over the finishing line, flawless! Brilliant director, singer and now roles like this, the junior Akhtar surely would end up as one of the most talented Bollywood has ever seen.
I would be surprised if he does not get a national award for this performance, he has trumped someone like Irfan in Pan Singh Tomar. So some other actor would really have to work out of his skin to beat this performance and we have very few "actors" anyway!
Farhan is backed by a brilliant choice of other actors and their performances, for the other roles. Divya Dutta as Milkha's elder sister is impeccable, her expressions sometimes leave a lump in the throat. Espcially the scene where Milkha comes in wearing the Indian blazer. Pawan Malhotra is always perfect in his roles since his days in Nukkad, so it is no surprise that he adds pure value as Milkha's first coach.
Prakash Raj as Milkha's South Indian commander in the army, does well as usual and brings in some humour quotient. Yograj Singh as Milkha's national coach may not have the acting prowess of the other actors, but he did fine too. Maybe the tough ways he trained his son Yuvraj to be a champion in real life, helped him in the role. Sonam Kapoor has very few dialogues, but her scenes as Milkha's love interest are nice and bring back an air of innocent loves from the days gone by.
Most other actors, even in smaller roles, the kid Milkha, his massacred family in Punjab, his friends in differents part of life do their small parts very well, so again credit to the director.
The music and background score of Shankar Ehsaan Loy pep up the movie, though I felt we could have done with couple songs less, since this is anyway a long movie. The movie could have been a bit shorter, notwithstanding it is a biopic, especially in the first half. In case they decide to send this one for the awards, this needs to be trimmed a bit.
However this takes nothing away from the best cinema of 2013 as of now.
4.5 stars for this classic!
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