MUMBAI: ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ is all in its way to break records and sprinting fast to enter the elite 100 crore club. (Read Report here) But the director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra makes some stunning revelations.
The film took four years in the making. But this delay was not because of production issues, but because of funding issues.
“Raising money was a challenging task, but we always believed that we were going to make it. For three years I knocked on every door, but nobody picked it up. And they were all friends,” says Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
He says that people weren’t ready to take the risk because of the subject. “It (Bollywood) is still a cottage industry, very family driven. Corporates have started coming and are bringing a sense of professionalism, but it is still family controlled,” adds Mehra.
‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ starring Farhan Akhtar has taken an unprecedented opening at the box-office and the advantage of a ‘Tax-Free’ status also works in the film’s success.
While the film is now bringing in so much of cash at the box-office, the money ideally should have come much earlier, during the making of the film itself.
Nevertheless, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a happy man now. While he shares the credit with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, he says it’s still difficult to make a non-formula film. He signs off saying that the project becomes only viable if there is star presence!
