The fact that "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" is serving an inspirational purpose among the youth is what is most heartening to Milkha Singh. "The message that if you try you, can be another Milkha is very strongly put across in the film. I wanted youngsters to be so moved by my story of struggle that they are inspired into doing something worthwhile."
"And that's exactly what's happening. All those who have seen the film have come out weeping. It's not just sportsmen who are connecting with my story, even businessmen and professionals are... they are getting the message that the only route to success is hard work and willpower. When I saw the film for the first time, I couldn't believe they had done such a fine job of putting my life into a three-hour film."
Milkha Singh is bowled over by Farhan Akhtar's performance. "He is exactly how I wanted to see myself on screen. Full credit to Rakeysh Mehra for seeing me in Farhan. Many actors, including Akshay Kumar, wanted to play Milkha Singh.
But the boy (Farhan) has done 'kamaal'. He has replicated me on screen. He even resembles me. The body language and the discipline Farhan adopted to play me... yeh koi maamooli baat nahin hai (it was not easy)."
He admits that the entire story of his life is not represented in "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag". "If they had taken all the incidents from my life the film would have been at least 10 hours long," he said.
He credits his son ace-golfer Jeev Singh for encouraging the project. "I have no idea about movies and the film industry. I haven't seen any film since 1960.
