'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' not a sports film: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Jun 19, 2013 IANS

Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) Producer-director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who is all set to release his film, "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", based on the life of former athlete Milkha Singh, said that the film was not based on sports and could have been on anybody in an endeavour to show the human spirit.

"I will like to clarify that the film is not based on sports or about a sportsman. It is about the triumph of the human spirit. What I saw was a story of a boy who lost his parents in his childhood at 12 years. He went on to make his country proud in the future," he said at the music and promo launch of the film held here Wednesday.

The film stars Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor.

Farhan who has been seen in films like "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" and "Rock On" said that he feels truly honoured to have got to play Milkha Singh in this film.

"The opportunity of acting or directing a film on someone so inspirational are rare. I am so happy that I got this opportunity. I promised Milkhaji that I will do a lot of effort," he said.

The actor said he prepared a lot for this role.

"I had to completely change my running style. The training was completely different. You have to build up your endurance and stamina. But the purpose of the film was higher than what we were doing, this removes your ego from the picture. You try and put in whatever is required to achieve the goal," he said.

The actor further added that he was so inspired by Milkha Singh's life, that nothing seemed tough for him.

"We were all inspired by Milkha Singh's life. We never felt something was tough," he said.

The film is all set to release on July 12.

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Bhaag Milkha Bhaag