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A One Rupee currency note printed in 1958 was the fee iconic athlete Milkha Singh accepted to let filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra base his next film, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The film on Singh is not on sports but a story of the human spirit and is one of the most inspiring tales from our country. And incidentally, Singh took a meagre one rupee to sell the story on his life starring Farhan Akhtar on him.
Rajiv Tandon, CEO, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures Pvt. Ltd. says, “We wanted to give a priceless token of appreciation for Milkha ji for letting us tell his story through our film. We looked and looked for that something special for a very long time. Then we finally ended up sourcing a special Rs One currency note that was printed in 1958. That year independent India won its 1st Gold Medal in Common Wealth Games because of Milkha ji and he also won two gold medals in Asian Games. Milkha ji was very clear that he was not looking for money. All he wanted was that only Rakeysh should make the film. It should be made in such a way that it inspires more youngsters to earn medals in athletics.”
Rajiv further adds, “From my childhood days I remember when elders came home, they would present Rs One notes to the children. It was like gifting a blessing. We wanted to do the same for our film too and started out to source this special currency note. My cousin helped us in getting this note procured.”
A source close to Milkha ji said on receiving this special token by him, “The legend was extremely moved. It was a like a souvenir for him.”
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