Bhaag Milkha Bhaag Movie review

He is a Sikh and is in Pakistan, which has just been formed and Pathans have attacked his village and kin. The kid's father screams, run Milkha run.Some time later, the kid returns to his burnt down but somehow wet house. He slips on the blood-ridden muddy floor and tumbles through a weak wall. Here, he finds dead bodies piled up. They are of his mother, father and the rest of the family.
The kid screams and runs towards his mother but slips. He runs again with all his might but slips again. After this,
Milkha runs again, slips again at an important moment as the incident in Pakistan forces him to turn around. This tragedy ends in Pakistan when his friend tells him that its not people but circumstances which are bad. His friend's son asks him if he is the same Milkha who runs.
Then Milkha runs his final race and Pakistan runs with him in this madness. He is given a name: The Flying Sikh.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is the story of that same 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh. The film goes into too much detail in the first half and feels slow here and there. The second half eliminates this issue. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is the same genius who gave us Rang de Basanti and comes across as the director who livens up every moment. Prasoon Joshi's script reaffirms the belief that when a poet narrates a story, it feels as if the story is full of emotion.
Farhan Akhtar's acting makes one rejoice. Go watch Bhaag Milkha Bhaag as it is a film that justifies your life and experiences.
If we go into the flashback of the story, we find a Sikh boy growing up in Multan. Due to partition, he has to come to Delhi, leaving his family back. In Delhi, he lives with his sister. He steals cola to make a living and then falls in love with Biira, who lives in a refugee colony in Shahdara. He makes up his mind to win her and gets enlisted in the Army.
Here begins his race. At first for the greed of an extra glass of milk and escaping parade, then to wear India's blazer and subsequently to get the world at his feet, by running. This race comes to an important turn in 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where he is unable to survive in the first round of the 400m sprint. He understands that the race is not as simple as it seems.
Then comes the drive, which he lives with and four years later, he reaches 1960 Rome Olympics after winning the Asiaad and Commonwealth Games among many other championships, and all eyes are on him. After all, he holds the world record. But here, amid the noise of that bloody evening, he turns around and loses.
But life does not end at the loss. Milkha overcomes this fear in a race in Pakistan.
The film is 3 hours 7 minutes long. In the beginning, one thinks how will the time pass by. Some scenes in the first half could have been easily removed, but perhaps filmmaker's stubbornness and his attachment with everything becomes evident.
Even the songs like Mastoon ka Jhund and title track power the film and its reason for existence. Some songs, if removed, could have reduced the film's length though. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music provides soul to Prasoon Joshi's lyrics.
Go and run with Milkha.