Rakeysh Mehra teams up with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for '...Milkha'

After Ashutosh Gowariker, another A.R. Rahman loyalist in Bollywood has had to switch to another composer. It is Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra who has teamed up with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for the music of his new project "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" (BMB).

"I've been very keen to work with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for many years. We go back almost 20 years. Ehsaan had composed music for my first ad film. Loy and I know each other from my student days in Delhi. Shankar's first music score for an ad film was for me," said Mehra.

"They've already composed four songs for '...Milkha'. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are going to sweep all the awards and win a million hearts with this score," he added.

For his "Rang De Basanti" and "Delhi-6", Mehra had teamed up with Rahman and he wanted to do "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" with him only.

"Mehra was adamant on pulling off a hat trick with Rahman. He waited for months for Rahman to accommodate BMB into his schedule. And Rahman, to his credit, tried his best. It was specially important that Rahman do 'Milkha' because of the composer's impressive record with bio-pics 'Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero', 'The Legend Of Bhagat Singh', 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising' ... But his impossible schedules and constant travel into three continents left Rahman with little choice," said a source.

Rahman informed Mehra that he couldn't do BMB and that's when Farhan Akhtar, who is playing the title role in the film, stepped into the picture.

Farhan, a close friend of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, has employed the trio's considerable talent in his home productions - "Dil Chahta Hai", "Rock On!!" and "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara". He suggested Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for Mehra's project.

The shooting for the film begins at the end of February and will be completed in July.