Flying Sikh's life on silver screen soon

Chandigarh, March 20 (IANS) Legendary athlete Milkha Singh's inspiring life - the triumphant spirit of the man and his tale of winning the world despite daunting odds - will soon be seen on the silver screen.

"Rang De Basanti" fame filmmaker Rakeysh Omparkash Mehra is all set to make a film "Bhag Milkha Bhag," recounting the stimulating story of Milkha Singh, who is popularly known as Flying Sikh all across the world.

"'Bhag Milkha Bhag' is not about any particular sport, trophies or medals, but it is about the fire that Milkha Singh had. I just want to spread this fire across the world and want people to learn from it," Mehra, who was in Chandigarh along with Milkha Singh and lyricist Prasoon Joshi to announce the making of the film, said Saturday.

He added: "Milkha Singh's life was full of troubles and hiccups but despite all this, he came out a winner. I think it is really necessary to take this meaningful story to the masses."

Singh was quite reluctant about giving a green signal to the project but the intervention of his son Jeev Milkha Singh, who is an ace golfer, set the things on the right track.

"In the past, many filmmakers had offered me crores of rupees to sell them my story but it was really difficult for me to believe anybody. This time my son Jeev, who had seen Mehra's 'Rang De Basanti', convinced me and said the film was in safe hands," Milkha Singh told IANS.

"Now I am very happy and I have charged only one rupee from them. I just want others to extract motivation out of the movie. They should believe in themselves: if a village boy like me can win laurels for the country with meagre resources and virtually no support, why can't anyone else?" said Singh.

The movie will be shot at various locales in India besides in Japan, Pakistan and some European countries.

Mehra is very meticulously choosing his team to give the film the perfect touch. Joshi is writing the screenplay of the film.

Joshi said: "I have met Milkha Singh many times in the last few months in connection with this new project. We have to do a lot of homework as we are aiming to tell a story of a man who rose from nowhere and attained various benchmarks in athletics in a cricket-obsessed country."