Bollywood

Milkha Singh charged Rs. 1 for biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

IANS
February 05, 2013

First Published: 16:38 IST(5/2/2013)
Last Updated: 18:00 IST(5/2/2013)

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People and students participate in 'Walk for Awareness' flagged off by Athletic champion Milkha Singh along with Army Chief, Gen. V. K Singh at Navy School Chankyapuri in New Delhi.

Flying Sikh Milkha Singh took just one rupee from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra to allow him to make a film on his life. What's special about the currency note is that it was printed in 1958, the year when the athlete won the first gold medal for independent India in the Commonwealth Games.

The biopic titled Bhaag Milkha Bhaag features actor Farhan Akhtar in the lead role and is slated for a July release.

"We wanted to give a priceless token of appreciation to Milkhaji for letting us tell his story through our film. We looked for that something special for a very long time. Then we finally ended up sourcing a special Rs. 1 currency note that was printed in 1958," Rajiv Tandon, CEO, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures Pvt. Ltd, said in a statement.

The relevance of the note is that "in 1958 independent India won its first gold medal in Commonwealth Games because of Milkhaji and he also won two gold medals in Asian Games", added Tandon.

Money was not Milkha's priority -- he only wanted Mehra to make the film.

The legendary athlete wanted that "it should be made in such a way that it inspires more youngsters to earn medals in athletics", said Tandon.

A source close to Singh said: "The legend (Milkha Singh) was extremely moved. It (Re.one note) was like a souvenir for him."

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Farhan Akhtar

This man is possibly one of the most versatile and talented members of the Hindi film industry. While most actors venture later into producing and directing films, Farhan Akhtar is one of the few stars with a reverse career graph!