A decade ago, Divya Dutta won several prizes and garnered a lot of praise for her role in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The actor recently disclosed in an interview that she had originally chosen to play Ishri Kaur in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag because she had a “huge crush” on Farhan Akhtar, the film’s lead actor. In the movie, she portrayed his older sister.
But in the end, the director Rakeysh was able to convince her to reconsider. Divya further revealed that she did not recognise Farhan Akhtar when she initially came to the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag location for the shoot. He had Milkha Singh’s exact appearance and demeanour. The critically acclaimed movie tells the story of the Indian track star and Olympian, starting with the 1947 Partition of India and moving through his time in the Army to his final ascent to the top of the 400-meter race.
Why did she say no to Rakeysh?
Divya revealed in a Pinkvilla interview that she wasn’t excited to play Farhan’s sister in the movie. “I wasn’t doing it because I had a huge crush on Farhan at that time,” the woman stated. “Why should I play his sister?” I asked. However, Rakeysh pointed out, that you are a professional actor. “Yeah but… you know,” I remarked.
Rakeysh persuaded Divya to reconsider since, in the end, she was his “first and last choice” for the role. The cast of the movie also included Sonam Kapoor, Yograj Singh, Art Malik, Prakash Raj, and Pavan Malhotra. Prasoon Joshi wrote the script for the movie.
Award-winning biopic
As Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was the recipient of two National Film Awards: Best Choreography and Best Popular Film Offering Wholesome Entertainment. Divya took home numerous awards for Best Supporting Actress from the International Indian Film Academy, Producers Guild Film Awards, and Zed Cine Awards. Milkha Singh, 91, passed away on June 18, 2021.
The last time we saw her was in the Hindi movie Anth The End. She also starred in the Punjabi film Maa, the short film Sheer Qorma, starring Shabana Azmi and Swara Bhaskar, and the Kangana Ranaut feature Dhaakad last year.
