I dare you to come out of this one without goosebumps and dry eyes! I dare you!
What is there to say about the partition that hasn't already been said? Who doesn't know the story of Milkha Singh? I am not surprised that this story was sold to Rakesh Omprakash Mehra for a single rupee, because there is really no story! But what is to watch here is the treatment of the oft told, well known story. You are held captive from the words get set go and it holds you beyond the end credits and the parking lot and the ride home.
It is a biopic that has come of age and shall now be a benchmark for the others that shall follow. Mehra gets his groove back after the miserable Delhi-6 and finally we see the same calibre as we did in Aks and Rang De Basanti. I am desperately trying to find the name of the child artiste who played the young Milkha but can't find it, what a stellar performance from that child.Kudos to Mehra for drawing out that. As always Divya Dutta as Milkha's sister and Pawan Malhotra as his Guru are par excellence. These two fine actors should really be doing more work. Yograj Singh is competent too. And donot go looking for Farhan Akhtar in this movie. You shall not find him! All that there is, is Milkha Singh...... Farhan has lost himself totally and given the performance of his life. My prediction is that all the awards are coming his way after this. What an actor! The way he has trained for the movie shines through. There is no doubt that he has spent hours soaking in the spirit of The Flying Sikh and has come out a winner. He is superlative. He draws emotions out of you and leaves you drained. The relationship between Milkha and his sister through out the story is a thread that leaves you wanting more. For me the scenes to watch out for are the ones where Milkha ( I keep forgetting that it was actually Farhan!) slaps himself! Holy Glory! And the one in which he revisits his home. I wept.....
The love story angle is nothing to write about, but does provide some relief from the gut wrenching emotion. Also the way Mehra uses the Flashback technique is amazing. I have never seen any other director using it so well. He did it beautifully in Rang De Basanti and does it well here too. The end shall definitely remind you of Rang De Basanti.
The nationalistic theme is used perfectly and not flogged to death till it makes you cringe. The Saare Jahan Se Achha playing out as Mikha takes his medal is a fine touch and makes you break out in goose pimples. But this is chiefly a story of an individual not succumbing to circumstances but forging ahead on just his will power. It is a story of a man who looks to achieve the simple pleasures of life but ends up changing his destiny.
Watch it for that.
Watch it because you like good cinema....
Watch it because you will have missed something special if you don't!
If I had to find fault with this movie it would be the soundtrack, it just doesn't stay with you. At all!
Also as Milkha Singh wanted we should probably get a holiday to watch this one.
Jai Hind!
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