FICCI FRAMES: Farhan Akhtar and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra relive Bhaag Milkha Bhaag moments

No other film dominated public consciousness in 2013 as much as Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (BMB) did. Undoubtedly, one of the best biopics to emerge from the stables of Indian cinema, if not the best, BMB swept clean all popular and critics award. It was, therefore, only judicial to have invited Farhan Akhtar and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra to speak on the thought processes that went behind making the epic movie. Talking about the two most important incidents of Milkha Singh's that inspired him to make the movie, Rakeysh said, "When I met Milkha Singh, two things left me awe struck. One, the brutal massacre that left his entire family dead. In spite of having seen a tragedy of such great magnitude, he rose to the pinnacle of glory in life. The second thing was the time when he lost at Rome Olympics. After hearing these two incidents, my resolve to make a movie on Milkha became firm." Filmmakers are often known to use a reference point while making a movie. However Rakeysh comes from a different school of thought. "I don't believe in using a reference point by looking at a previous filmmaker's work but Raging Bull did inspire me in a different manner. In the movie, the hero wins the race but loses his life while Milkha loses the race but wins life." While BMB's amazing script has been well lauded, it's the amazing metamorphosis of lead actor Farhan Akhtar that grabbed eyeballs. Reliving those days, Farhan says, "I was living the life of an athlete for almost 18 months. The physical transformation itself was the physical manifestation of what everything was. It was the manifestation of the whole lifestyle like how an athlete would lead his life, what he would eat, when he would sleep, among other things. I didn't want to pretend. You can either be an athlete or not. I had to put in a tremendous amount of effort but the support cast was amazing. Even those who didn't support me only acted as a fuel to motivate me to do well." When asked what would be his criteria when it comes to choosing biopics in future, Farhan said, "It is all about what you want to learn from that person's life. What am I using this person for? That's my criteria." While awards and recognitions surely brought a smile on Rakeysh's face, it was the amazing response from school going kids that the director cherishes the most. "The most gratifying moment was when school kids started watching the movie. We hadn't dreamt about a six-year or an eight-year old liking it. It was out of our peripheral vision. That was amazing." As a parting shot, Rakeysh said, "There are so many ideas in India that are waiting to be made into stories. I don't want an American idea to be made in India." Now that's the Rang de Basanti spirit of Rakesh, we say!!!