Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Reveals Approaching Aamir Khan, Screen-Testing Ranveer Singh For Milkha Singh & People Questioning His Choice Of Farhan Akhtar – Deets Inside ( Photo Credit – Instagram ; IMDb ; Wikimedia )
Advertisement
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is one of the best biographical dramas released in the country and was based on the life of an athlete and Olympic gold-medal winner, Milkha Singh, also known as the ‘Flying Sikh’. Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the film stars Farhan Akhtar, Divya Dutta and Sonam Kapoor in pivotal roles. In a recent interview, the director opened up about approaching Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh for the role but finalised Farhan after a 20-minute conversation with him. Scroll below to read the scoop.
The film was released in 2013 and was a hit at the box office. The director Rakeysh, over the years, in Hindi cinema, has delivered some of the most prominent films, including, Delhi-6, Rang De Basanti and Toofan, to name a few.
In a conversation with ETimes, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was asked if he approached Aamir Khan for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag; he said, “I don’t remember the sequence who went to first, but Aamir being a close friend, I did speak to him that I am making a film like this and what he feels.”
He added, “I screen-tested a few actors, Ranveer Singh was one of them who screen-tested for the film. But when spoke to Farhan Akhtar, it was just a twenty-minute conversation and he immediately got it. It’s not that others didn’t get it. He immediately felt one with the role. And when looked into his eyes, I saw Milkha Singh’s eyes. The same intensity and if you see the photograph specifically the eyes, I could imagine Farhan playing a rustic Sikh from a village and everybody around me told me what was going on.”
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra spoke about people questioning choosing Farhan Akhtar for the film and said, “You are saying Farhan and Farhan is a rockstar. He is a Rock On!! star, so said these are all labels. These are all cliche. An actor is an actor. The actor identifies with the character. It’s the best thing that can happen. Then I showed them the simile of Sunil Dutt being so suave in Waqt and then he played Birju in Mother India.”
What are your thoughts on Rakeysh talking about approaching Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag? Tell us in the space below.
