Flying Sikh in Bollywood biopic
Indian track hero inspires biopic
The courageous story of the "Flying Sikh" - India's most successful track athlete, who overcame childhood tragedy to seek Olympic glory - is the latest Bollywood biopic to hit cinemas.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run, Milkha, Run) charts the journey of young Milkha Singh, who lost his family during India's tumultuous partition in 1947 and went on to compete at the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games.
We all grew up with the folklore of Milkha; he's a larger-than-life figure for us
His rise to elite athlete made Singh a national hero and the film, which opened over the weekend, joins the Bollywood trend of movies based on or inspired by real stories.
"We all grew up with the folklore of Milkha; he's a larger-than-life figure for us," says the film's director, Rakeysh Mehra. "He's like what Pele meant to football, or what Jesse Owens meant for track and field for the West."
The movie title refers to the poignant last words spoken to Singh by his father. As he was dying he told Singh to flee or he too would be killed in the post-partition riots sweeping the subcontinent. Singh ran for his life and boarded a train with other refugees.
Mehra was drawn to Singh's story not only for his sporting achievements but also for the impact the athlete had on a newborn nation struggling to assert itself.
"At that time we were looking for heroes outside politics. Outside [Mahatma] Gandhi or [prime minister Jawaharlal] Nehru there were none that the world knew. So he went out there and in a way conquered the world for us," he explains.