Bhaag Milkha Bhaag () is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language biographical sports drama film directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, written by lyricist Prasoon Joshi, and produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures in association with Rajiv Tandon and editor P.S. Bharathi under the ROMP Pictures banner. Based on the life of Milkha Singh, an Indian athlete and Olympian who was a champion of the Commonwealth Games and two-time 400m champion of the Asian Games, it stars Farhan Akhtar in the title role alongside Art Malik, Divya Dutta, Pavan Malhotra, Yograj Singh, Prakash Raj and Meesha Shafi in supporting roles with Sonam Kapoor in a special appearance.
Made on a budget of , the film, shot by Binod Pradhan and scored by musician trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, was released on 12 July 2013 and garnered acclaim from critics and audiences alike. It performed very well at the box office, eventually being declared a "super hit" domestically as well as a hit overseas. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is the eighth highest-grossing 2013 Bollywood film worldwide and became the 21st film to gross .
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was inspired by The Race of My Life, an autobiography co-written by Singh and his daughter, Sonia Sanwalka. Singh sold the film rights for one rupee and inserted a clause stating that a share of the profits would be given to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust, which was founded in 2003 with the aim of assisting poor and needy sportspeople.
Plot The narrative opens at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where Indian sprinter Milkha Singh is competing in the 400-meter finals. As the race begins, his coach shouts the phrase, "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag!" ("Run Milkha Run!"). The words trigger a severe traumatic flashback, causing Milkha to lose focus and finish in a disappointing fourth place. These haunting memories date back to the 1947 Partition of India, during which mass sectarian violence erupted in Punjab, culminating in the massacre of Milkha’s parents before his eyes. As a young boy, Milkha escaped the carnage and arrived in Delhi as a penniless refugee, eventually reuniting with his sister, Isri Kaur. Living in squalid refugee camps, he turned to petty theft to survive alongside a group of friends. Upon reaching adulthood, Milkha fell in love with a local woman named Biro, who urged him to abandon his life of crime and live with honesty.
Seeking a structured future and a legitimate livelihood, Milkha enlists in the Indian Army. During basic training, he enters a cross-country race where the top ten finishers are promised milk, eggs, and an exemption from daily fatigue duties. His raw athletic prowess catches the eye of Havaldar Gurudev Singh, who begins mentoring him for national athletic selections. As Milkha rapidly ascends the ranks, his success breeds intense jealousy among senior athletes. The night before the final Olympic trials, these rivals brutally assault him. Despite sustaining severe internal injuries, Milkha insists on competing the following day. Overcoming intense physical agony, he wins the race and shatters the national 400-meter record. Eager to share his success, Milkha returns to Delhi to propose to Biro, only to discover that she was married off and had left the city during his absence.
At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, a distracted Milkha becomes infatuated with Stella, the granddaughter of his Australian technical coach. After spending a night drinking at a bar, the two have a one-night stand. Exhausted and arriving late to training the next morning, Milkha performs poorly and fails to qualify in the final Olympic race. Devastated by his lack of discipline, he undergoes a crisis of conscience, physically punishing himself in front of a mirror. On the flight back to India, he asks his coach for the official 400-meter world record time and learns it stands at 45.9 seconds. Driven by a newfound obsession, Milkha undergoes grueling high-altitude tire training in the freezing deserts of Ladakh, pushing his body to absolute physical exhaustion.
He enters the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, where he encounters Pakistan’s star sprinter, Abdul Khaliq, hailed as the "Fastest Man of Asia." Although initially dismissed by the Pakistani athletic contingent, Milkha comfortably defeats Khaliq in the 200-meter event, securing the Gold medal. He continues his dominant streak at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, winning another Gold in the 400-meter race, earning international acclaim as "The King of England" from the British press. Having finally broken the 400-meter world record during his training cycle, Milkha celebrates with his military comrades and symbolically burns the paper on which he had inscribed the 45.9-second target, signaling the fulfillment of his athletic goal.
Years later, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru invites Milkha to lead the Indian athletic contingent to Pakistan for a highly publicized, friendly dual meet against Abdul Khaliq. Deeply traumatized by his childhood flight from his birthplace, Milkha adamantly refuses to return to Pakistani soil. However, Nehru personally intervenes and convinces him to go for national prestige. Upon arriving in Pakistan, Milkha skips the official press conferences to visit his ancestral village. There, he confronts the exact site of his parents’ murder and remembers his father's final, desperate shout to save his life: "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag!" Overcome with grief, he is comforted by his childhood friend, Sampreet, and Sampreet's young son.
During the highly anticipated race in Lahore, Khaliq takes an early lead, but Milkha steadily accelerates, overtaking his opponents one by one to secure a historic victory by a massive margin. Deeply impressed by his unparalleled speed and grace, the President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan, bestows upon him the immortal title of "The Flying Sikh." At Milkha's personal request, Prime Minister Nehru declares a national holiday in India to celebrate the triumph. The film concludes with Milkha Singh conducting a triumphant victory lap before an adoring stadium, momentarily looking back to see a vision of his younger, childhood self running joyfully alongside him.
Cast
Farhan Akhtar as Subedar Milkha Singh Japtej Singh as young Milkha Art Malik as Sampooran Singh, Milkha's father Divya Dutta as Isri Kaur, Milkha's elder sister Pavan Malhotra as Havaldar Gurdev Singh, Milkha's coach during his days in the Indian Army Yograj Singh as Ranbir Singh, Milkha's coach Prakash Raj as Subedar Veerapandian K.K.Raina as Mr. Wadhwa Meesha Shafi as Perizaad Rebecca Breeds as Stella Dalip Tahil as Jawaharlal Nehru Shanta Kumar as Gen. Ayub Khan Dev Gill as Abdul Khaliq Nawab Shah as Khaliq's coach Jass Bhatia as Mahinder Salim Zaidi as Pakistani reporter Sumit Gulati as Suresh Kumar Herry Tangri as Milkha's Friend in the army Mahendra Mewati as Kirpal Singh Rupinder Singh athletics consultant Sahidur Rehman as Sher Singh Rana Chandan Singh Gill as Sampreet Singh, Milkha's childhood friend Sonam Kapoor as Biro Kaur, Milkha's fleeting love interest (special appearance) Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra as a pilot (special appearance) Loy Mendonsa in a special appearance as the country singer in the song "Slow Motion Angreza" Shriswara as Nirmal Saini (deleted scenes)
Production
Development After the release of Delhi-6 (2009), director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra started developing two projects: a historical love story, Mirza Sahiban, and a biopic of Milkha Singh. He chose the latter as it had developed better. Prasoon Joshi, who co-wrote Delhi-6 with Mehra, started working on the script. Joshi later clarified that the film's title, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run) was never actually spoken by Milkha's father. Rather, it was a phrase coined by him and was used liberally throughout the narrative.
Growing up in Delhi, Mehra was familiar with anecdotes from the life of Milkha Singh, the ace runner popular as the "Flying Sikh". He used to visit the National Stadium, Delhi for swimming, where Singh also came for his practice. Gradually, he learns details regarding his early life, including how he witnessed his entire family being killed during the Partition and travelled alone to Delhi as a refugee. Mehra started developing the project as a personal story rather than a sports film, taking the theme of "zindagi se bhago nahin, zindagi ke saath bhago" ("don't run away from life, run with life"), depicting his life from 13 to 28 years.
For research, he visited Chandigarh several times, where he talked for hours with Singh. Milkha Singh's son, Jeev Milkha Singh, a notable golfer in his own right, arranged his meetings with the family members. Milkha Singh refused a large offer for the film rights to his story and instead charged a token amount of , as he believed if the film could "inspire our young people and result in India's first Olympic track gold, that would [be] reward enough for him."
It took the next two and half years to write the story. According to the director, it is not a sports film, but a film about human spirit.
Casting In 2010, early contenders of the lead role were Abhishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar. While Bachchan was preferred by Mehra, Kumar was preferred by Milkha Singh himself. Mehra, however, deferred the final decision on the cast till the final script was completed. Mehra offered the film to Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, and Ranveer Singh, all of whom turned it down. After months of searching, in September 2011, the principal cast were announced. Actor-director Farhan Akhtar and actress Sonam Kapoor received the lead roles. Thereafter, Akhtar visited Punjab to meet Milkha Singh and his family. Before deciding, Akhtar met Mehra once for a story session and immediately agreed to play the role, which marked his first appearance outside a home production. He was inspired by Milkha Singh's life and underwent extensive physical training for the role.
Pakistani actress and singer, Meesha Shafi—who rose to fame with her song "Alif Allah (Jugni)", played RAW agent in the hit Pakistani film Waar, and in 2013 made her Hollywood debut with The Reluctant Fundamentalist—was selected for the role of Perizaad, Singh's friend and a swimmer for team India.
Filming The principal photography commenced in February 2012 and mainly took place in Punjab, India, with some scenes shot in Delhi, Tokyo, Melbourne, and Rome.
International company ReelSports coordinated the sports action for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and cast all the elite runners.
Soundtrack
The music and the background score were composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, their first film collaboration with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The soundtrack features seven tracks with lyrics written by Prasoon Joshi. The audio was released by Sony Music on 14 June 2013, on digital platforms including iTunes and Amazon.
Release Bhaag Milkha Bhaag's teaser trailer was released along with Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which released on 31 May 2013.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag released on 12 July 2013 in 1200 screens worldwide including 140 screens in USA.
That summer, the film received various tax exemptions from Indian state governments: On July 20, the governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh granted an entertainment tax exemption to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. On July 24, the Delhi government also announced a tax exemption. On July 25, Goa's government gave tax-free status to the film for three months. On July 29, the Haryana government made the film tax-free in the state. On August 1, Uttar Pradesh government approved a proposal to exempt Bhaag Milkha Bhaag from entertainment tax in two instalments or for a maximum of two months.
Farhan Akhtar and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra launched the film's official mobile game at the Reliance Digital electronics store in Times Square on 3 August 2013.