Sardar Milkha Singh, well-known Sporting personality of India. He represented Indian Athletics team in 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Recently Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra made a movie on his life history depicting his struggle as a sportsperson. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag starring Farhan Akhtar is said to be a true story of the "Flying Sikh" - world champion runner and Olympian Milkha Singh. He who overcame the massacre of his family, civil war during the India-Pakistan partition, and homelessness to become one of India's most iconic athletes.
The name Flying Sikh is given by Pakistani President General Ayub Khan in 1960 during his heroic win over Abdul Khaliq in Pakistan. Abdul Khaliq was famous athlete of Pakistan at that time. After the success of British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, he became the first gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games from independent India. Since then no other Indian male athlete have won an individual athletics gold medal in Commonwealth Games. At that time Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to set aside the memories of the Partition of India. So, he proposed to have race between these famous athletes from two nations. After the successful race Pakistani President become fan of Milkha, said "It don't seem that you run a race, actually you were flying" This way he got his nickname "Flying Sikh".
Watch the Video of that close finish between Ottis Davis(USA) and Karl Kaufmann (Germany). Click the Link below to watch the video
Both Ottis Davis and Karl Kaufman clocked 44.8 seconds, 2nd runner-up Malcolm Spence of South Africa covered the race in 45.5 seconds. Milkha, who was initially leading the race, finished just 0.1 seconds later by Spence, clocking 45.6 seconds.
The name Flying Sikh is given by Pakistani President General Ayub Khan in 1960 during his heroic win over Abdul Khaliq in Pakistan. Abdul Khaliq was famous athlete of Pakistan at that time. After the success of British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, he became the first gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games from independent India. Since then no other Indian male athlete have won an individual athletics gold medal in Commonwealth Games. At that time Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to set aside the memories of the Partition of India. So, he proposed to have race between these famous athletes from two nations. After the successful race Pakistani President become fan of Milkha, said "It don't seem that you run a race, actually you were flying" This way he got his nickname "Flying Sikh".
Early Life
- October 17,1935 born in Layalpur (Punjab) then known as Faislabad. He lost his parents in partition of India when he was 12. He reached India somehow, after running from there.
- He tend to go to his school by foot, 10 KM from his village in Kot Addu Tehsil
- He wanted to join Indian Army but got rejected three times
- He joined EMI centre in Sikandrabad in 1951. Here, he came to know about his talent in racing. He tend to compete with trains passing nearby tracks. He usually practiced till late nigts
- He married, Nirmal Kaur, a former captain of the Indian women's vollyball team.
- Jeev Milkha Singh, India's best golfer is Milkha Singh’s son born on December 15, 1971.
Athletics Career
- 1958 - In Asian Games, he secured Gold Medal for India in 200m and 400m competitions. He registered his name in the assembly of world class athletes there.
- 1958 - Same year, he won Gold Medal in Cardiff Commonwealth Games, thus becoming the first Gold Medalist for Independent India.
1958 - 440y - The British Empire Games Cardiff
- 1958 - Awarded with PadamShree Award by Indian Government.
- 1960 - In Rome Olympics, he lost Bronze Medal to Malcolm Spence of South Africa by just 0.1 second to in 400m final race, after getting 2nd position in 1st, 2nd and semi-final heats each.
Milkha Singh in 400m 1960 Olympic (Rome) Final
Watch the Video of that close finish between Ottis Davis(USA) and Karl Kaufmann (Germany). Click the Link below to watch the video
Both Ottis Davis and Karl Kaufman clocked 44.8 seconds, 2nd runner-up Malcolm Spence of South Africa covered the race in 45.5 seconds. Milkha, who was initially leading the race, finished just 0.1 seconds later by Spence, clocking 45.6 seconds.
- 1960 - Went to Pakistan and won both hearts and race against Abdul Khaliq. After that got his nickname "Flying Sikh".
Fact File
- Milkha Singh rejected Lifetime Arjun Award.
- Milkha Singh ran 80 races and won 77 of those 80 races.
- Milkha Singh donated all his medals to the National Sports Museum.
- He participated in 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
- He won famous Helms Trophy in USA.
- He served as a Director of Sports in Punjab after his retirement.
- He told that he never watched movie since after 1968 but this movie bring tear in his eyes.
- The autobiography of Milkha Singh is named as "The Race Of My Life" which is due for release in market later this year in August(2013).
Pan Singh Tomar Vs Milkha Singh
Pan Singh Tomar, a biopic film directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia was actually a junior athlete of S. Milkha Singh. In long race, Milkha Singh once beat Pan Singh Tomar. Recently a Milkha Singh's biopic was directed by Rakesh OmParkash Mehra and lead role is played by Farhan Akhtar. Milkha Singh sold his biography to director of movies in just Re.1 but also taken a promise by moviemakers that 10% of the profit will go to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust.According to cinema trends, Movie grabbed a hot response from viewers all over the World. On the request of Director, movie is now tax-free in Maharashtra, so that it can reach easily to masses of India, paying minimum amount for tickets.
Movie Grossing :
(Movie released on Thursday, July 11, 2013) Thu 1.05 crore Fri 8.5 crore Sat 11 crore Sun 12.8 crore Mon 5.7 crore Tue 5.32 crore Wed 4.82 crore Thu 4.55 crore Total: 53.74 crore (Week 1) Fri 4 crore Sat 5.80 crore Sun *est* 6.75 crore Hit. Taking Grand total to: Rs 70.29 crore (Till now)
Hope you like our post. For any type of help on any topic post comments, we will try our best to bring the information as soon as possible. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment