Actor Farhan Akhtar took to Instagram on Tuesday to reminisce about his process of getting into the character of Milkha Singh for the 2013 sports-drama Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
He shared one of the final racing scenes from the film, on which he made an edit using a tune by Trevor Jones that he constantly listened to as part of his process for embodying Milkha Singh. While explaining this, he wrote in the caption, “What happened here blew my mind, and I had to share it with you. Part of my process (with certain characters) is to create a playlist of music that helps me identify with the underlying theme of the film and the psychology of the person I’m portraying. Through the making of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, this theme by Trevor Jones emerged as the one that got me there. It starts dramatically with seemingly ominous tones, followed by a folksy fiddle motif that repeats and repeats, to the point where you wonder, ‘Is this going anywhere?’ But if you listen close enough, there’s something subtly building underneath that finally leads to the release of all that pressure and expectation – the victory theme. This, to me, represented Milkha ji’s life in one piece of music. It played constantly on my headphones throughout the making of the film. The editor didn’t know. The background score composers didn’t know. It was a secret only Rakeysh knew.”
The theme Farhan mentioned is ‘Promentory’ from The Last of the Mohicans by composer Trevor Jones.
“Yesterday on set in Ladakh, I happened to hear the theme while waiting for the crew to get a shot ready and wondered what it would be like if this theme was dropped in on the final race. Tried it out on a whim, and what happened was pure 540 magic. The edit is untouched. Enjoy,” he added.
The actor is currently in Ladakh shooting for his upcoming film 120 Bahadur. In the war-drama, Farhan will be essaying the role of Major Shaitan Singh Bhati. The film is set against the backdrop of the 1962 Indo-China war and draws inspiration from the Battle of Rezang La, where 120 Indian soldiers fought against thousands of Chinese troops.