Flying spirit of India’s greatest runner.........

 

Flying spirit of India’s greatest runner http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4IxK7ZRYlKQ (Read the meaning of the whole song at below) History is created in several ways. One of them is cinema. And if Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” seems like a near-flawless homage to the flying spirit of India’s greatest runner, it is partly because the story, so nimbly woven into a pastiche of drama, emotion, humour and pathos by Prasoon Joshi, is in no hurry to keep pace with the onscreen Milkha’s breathless sprint. The story of super-sprinter Milkha Singh unfolds in this exceptional biopic at its own volition. There’s no effort here “to tell a story”, to create an impression or to whip up a dramatic storm to captivate audiences. The synergy in the story telling seems subliminal. Still, we the audience, fed week after week on mediocrity masquerading as cinema, are riveted to the story of Milkha Singh for over three hours of playing time. How come? Well, to begin with it is Milkha Singh’s own powerful life as India’s superstar sportsperson that sweeps us into the biopic. Milkha was so poor he couldn’t afford running shoes, and when he got them, he didn’t know how to run in them. When milk was offered in the army in exchange for running practice, he grabbed it (the run and the milk) with both hands. A victim of India’s brutal partition, Milkha’s story was waiting to be told. And thankfully, no one before Mehra saw cinematic potential in his story. If Milkha’s story had to be told, the storyteller had to be a master craftsman, and one who doesn’t waste space in self-congratulatory flourishes. With immense help from Prasoon Joshi,  Mehra harnesses Milkha’s life-story into an experience that is pure cinema and yet undiluted and uncompromised by the mandatory, often silly, illogical and idiotic semantics of mainstream commercial cinema. The absolutely seamless editing by P Bharathi is impressive. The film is very stylishly cut, but not at the cost of losing the simplicity and the innate ascetism of the sportsman-hero. And yes, there are songs composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, but they are so effortlessly woven into Milkha’s saga that we don’t see them as “song breaks”. This is as good a time as any to tell you that Farhan Akhtar does the Bhangra as well as any Punjabi. Actually, he doesn’t dance. He just flows with the rhythm. I’ve never seen any actor dance with such rhapsodic abundance. Neither have I seen any actor run like Farhan. I don’t know how fast Milka ran, but Farhan’s Milkha doesn’t fake it for even a second. When he runs, he really runs. When he stumbles and takes a fall, we flinch and wince in our seats. Farhan’s body language and emotions and expression as Milkha is pitch-perfect. Farhan doesn’t ‘play’ Milkha. The actor occupies Milkha’s mind, body and soul. There are episodes in this astonishingly, well-structured biopic where Farhan’s oneness with Milkha equals Ben Kingsley’s empathy with Mahatma Gandhi in “Gandhi”. This isn’t just a film about a sportsperson who brought untold glory to our country. “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” is the story of an individual’s journey from nullity to pinnacles of success in a world where politics and violence are constant reminders of how little an individual’s aspirations matter in the larger, often murkier scheme. Who said life could ever be easy for those who aspire to fly higher than the rest? The beautiful irony of Milkha Singh’s life that this consummate biopic captures so ably, is that he really didn’t aspire to anything. He ran simply because he had to. The rest, as they say, is history. “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” is the kind of cinema that doesn’t tempt us to share the protagonist’s life with any false hopes. We the audience are driven into a desperate urge to share Milkha’s life not only because he ran fast, but because he wasn’t afraid to stumble, falter and fall. Ironically, this film on Milkha rarely slips up, if ever. At one point, in an under-punctuated flashback, we hear Milkha confide in his sweetheart that he would like the government to declare a national holiday in his honour. And this shows his self confidence. What lessons we learn from Milkha Singh....as a trader..? <<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Every time you listen to the song, it gives you a high, and both SEL's music and Prasoon Joshi's lyrics are equally creditable for this wonder. Siddharth Mahadevan sounds a lot like Shankar in many places, and in his singing style too. He might not be as polished as his father, but his enthusiasm in the song sounds very real, and that was a necessity here. Prasoon Joshi has written some really good lyrics (and I believe tough, since I've already seen most lyric and translation writers making mistakes in this one), and they're a joy to listen to. Here are the lyrics with translation. For now this is the rock version. are santee maar rahaa sansaar Ab tu aane de lalkaar teri to baahein patwaar kadam hain tere hahakaar The world is hitting (you) with a stick Now let there be shouts (to challenge you, don't be afraid) Your arms are strong like oars Your feet are an outcry.. [The meaning of Santee seems to have created some confusions. When a thin branch is taken out of a tree and used as a stick to punish, it's called Santee.] Teri nas-nass lohaa taar tu hai aag bas tu bhaag Milkha Oh bas tu bhaag Milkha, bhaag Milkha, bhaag bhaag bhaag bhaag bhaag Milkha every vein of yours is an iron wire You are a fire.. You just run Milkha Now just run, run Milkha, run.. O.. sariyaa, O.. kashtee.. O sariyaa O saria O mod de aag ka dariyaa O kashti O kashtee O doob jaane mein hi hai hastee.. O iron bar, O boat.. O iron bar bend the river of fire O boat there’s glory only in sinking.. [Here Sariyaa, Iron bar, is used to create an effect, it's not used anywhere in a sentence but in the next, you talk about bending something, so iron bar is in your mind and you think of bending that too.] O jungle O jungle, aaj sheheron se hai tera dangal O Milkha, bhaag Milkha, bhaag bhaag bhaag bhaag bhaag Milkha O Jungle, today you need to wrestle against cities.. O Milkha, run Milkha, just run, run.. [He's being called a Jungle because Milkha is more of a simple villager compared to people who used latest available technologies to compete in the Olympics, which he didn't have access to.] tu jaag.. ab tu jaag Milkha tu hai aag.. tu hai aag Milkha Wake up, now wake up Milkha You are a fire, you're a fire Milkha Teraa to bistar hai maidaan Odhnaa dharti teri shaan tere sirhaane hai chattaan Pehen le.. Pehen le Poora aasmaan tu Pagdi baandh Milkha tu aag Milkha.. The ground is your bed, And wearing the earth is your pride the mountains are your pillows.. Wear the whole sky.. tie your turban Milkha You are a fire, Milkha.. [The turban is indirectly compared to the entire sky here, the turban as such is considered to be a symbol of Prestige, and hence the comparison.] khol tu Rath ke Pahiye khol banaa de chakra sudarshan bol jang ke feete kas ke baandh khulee hai aaj sher ki maand goli daag Milkha... Open the wheels of your chariot, make the Sudarshan chakra and speak (out loud, give a cry) tie the laces for the fight tightly The lion's cave is open today, Shoot Milkha! [The wheels of chariot and Sudarshan are from the Mahabharata, Karna was killed when he removed the wheel of his chariot. Here, Milkha is asked to open the wheels of chariot, that is, without fear, and make Sudarshan Chakra out of it, which was actually the weapon of Lord Vishnu, who was helping the winning side in the Mahabharata as Krishna. For ref., Karna was on the losing side of the battle, though he's considered to be near-perfect fighter.] daant se kaat le bijlee taar chabaa le taambe ki jhankaar Phoonk de khud ko jwaala jwaalaa bin khud jale na hoye Ujaalaa lapat hai aag Milkha… cut the electricity wires with your teeth Chew up the current in the copper [as in, the copper wires] burn yourself in fire, light isn't there without burning oneself This flame is the fire Milkha.. O bas tu bhaag Milkha.. Once again asking myself the same question : What lessons we learn from Milkha Singh....as a trader..?