Being in Milkhaji's shoe was very exciting, quite literally: Farhan Akhtar

'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' has finally been shared with the masses. A celluloid depiction of the indomitable spirit of the legendary Flying Sikh, the film shares a special bond with city beautiful…the place that became home to Milkha Singh, the place where director Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra's idea of the script germinated and flowered.
While the cinema audiences are still holding jury over the fate of the film at the commercial Box Office, TOI had the privilege of exclusively meeting the 'characters' that went into the making of the film, from the discerning director, to creative script writer Prasoon Joshi, to the striking actors, Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, Divya Dutta, Yograj Singh and child actor Japtej Singh.
Rakeysh: We met Milkhaji in Chandigarh four and half years ago and it all started here. It feels wonderful that the process of this film has come back full circle and we are back here in this city. It's a great moment for us. After me met Milkhaji for the first time it was followed by another six months of meetings, of getting permissions from Milkhaji's end to let go of his life and make a film on it. He had to start trusting someone, to give licence into his life. Jeev played a critical role in deciding. Prasoon and I frequented Chandigarh almost once a month thereafter.
For a project like this it is very important that you don't give everything, and that you hold something. Then, you need co-conspirators, people is the wrong word to use, to share that dream with you and then you have to let go off that dream. The actors come in, like Farhan and others. Someone had to play that character, it had to come alive. Now that the film is ready, I can say this, here in Chandigarh, that it won't have come alive had it not been for Farhan. Any other actor would have acted and we would have still had the film but it would not have been this film. I don't want to embarrass Farhan, but it has just come out from me here in Chandigarh because this is where it all started.
Farhan: Being in the shoes of Milkhaji was very exciting quite literally speaking. When we had come to Chandigarh two years ago, Milkhaji had gifted me his historic Olympic running shoes. And like any other human being the first thing I did when I went to my room was to try on the shoes. I was so thrilled because they fit perfectly! I called up Rakeysh and told him that it seemed like a sign.
Rakeysh: To put it in context, what Farhan is trying to say is- ek insaan duniya jeet ta hai aur uss ek jutey ko pehen kar. 50 saal baad woh jutey ek actor ko deta hai aur uss actor ko woh bilkul fit aatey hain …it wasn't just a sign, nor just a coincidence. When we entered the film, we entered with that belief that Farhan is Milkha Singh.
Sonam: I charged Rs 11 only for doing the film because I so wanted to be a part of it that I did not feel like commercializing the whole experience for myself.
Prasoon: Milkhaji was born in the partition, we take that event for granted now but we don't realize the impact it had on the mind of a child. And then, he decided one day that ‘I won't steal, mein kuch banunga bada hokar’. Apke journey ye nahi hai ki aap kahan pahunchey, it's about aap kahan se shuru huey thay. The pain manifested in Milkha Singh in the form of running and becoming a champion. The film is about that- that you can channelize pain into a river of triumph.
Inputs from - Jaspreet, Ankur Batra, Ananta Shrikhand, Bhawsheel Sahni, Arpan Vadhera, Nikhil Sharma and Mehak