The Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra directorial ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, which starred Farhan Akhtar in the role of Indian track and field sprinter, Milkha Singh, recently clocked ten years of its release.
The makers of the film have now decided to hold a special screening for the film in the honour of the late Milkha Singh.
The film, which released in 2013, captured the inspiring journey of the late Milkha Singh and showed how he overcame many agonising moments in his life from being orphaned at a young age during the Partition of India in order to battling his inner conflicts, rise above the other and carving a place for himself in the world of track and field sprinting.
He became a world champion, Olympian, and one of India’s most iconic athletes during the course of his journey and earned the title of ‘The Flying Sikh’.
A spokesperson from ROMP Pictures, P. S. Bharathi said: “10 years of ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. It’s really a very special movie for me and the entire nation indeed. The Flying Sikh of the nation, the late Milkha Singh is a pride of our country and with this special screening scheduled for July 26, we are giving a tribute to this legend who is an inspiration to millions of people.”
Milkha Singh is the only athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games.
He also won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games. He represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements.
Singh was persuaded by Jawaharlal Nehru to set aside his bad memories of the Partition era to participate in 1960 against Abdul Khaliq in Pakistan, where a post-race comment by the then General Ayub Khan of Pakistan led to him acquiring the title of ‘The Flying Sikh’.
Milkha Singh passed away on June 18, 2021 due to complications of Covid-19, at the age of 91, five days after his wife, Nirmal Saini.
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