Farhan's hard work in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Mehul S Thakkar (BOMBAY TIMES; February 22, 2013)

Recently, an Assistant Director on Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's forthcoming film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, who happened to be at a popular night spot and in high spirits, was overheard telling her group of friends: "He has worked so hard, it's not even funny…"

Turns out the AD was talking about leading man Farhan Akhtar, who plays the iconic Milkha Singh in the film. "Everyone knew it wasn't going to be easy filming in Ladakh, courtesy the low oxygen levels etc. So, Farhan found this training centre in the suburbs, which specialises in training people to adapt themselves to such harsh conditions. And, he trained there and religiously ran around 10-12 km every day," the AD went on, according to our star-struck eavesdropper.

Indeed, getting into the shoes of 'The Flying Sikh' and the only Indian to have won an individual athletics Gold in the Commonwealth Games can be a bit of an uphill task for any actor. Mirror has learnt that the 39-year-old actor-filmmaker pulled out all the stops to get into the skin of his character.

Not only did Farhan undergo a special month-long training at the suburban training centre for the Ladakh schedule, while in Ladakh, he would sprint for hours together in the backdrop of jawans coming out for a jog. "He would tie a rope to his waist and do a high intensity tyre and rope workout and run for several hours," in the words of the AD. Needless to say, all the preparation showed when the first promo was launched.

Produced by Viacom 18, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is slated for a July 12 release.