Divya Dutta says she turned down Bhaag Milkha Bhaag initially because she had a ‘huge crush’ on Farhan Akhtar

Divya Dutta received much acclaim and a few awards for performance in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag a decade ago. Recently, in an interview, the actor revealed that she had initially turned the role of Ishri Kaur in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag because she had a ‘huge crush’ on lead actor Farhan Akhtar. She played his elder sister in the film. (Also read: Divya Dutta: Earlier people thought female directors only worked on art films, Farah Khan, Zoya Akhtar changed it)

However, she eventually changed her mind thanks to some persuasion by the director Rakeysh. Divya also shared that when she first arrived at the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag set for the shoot, she could not recognise Farhan Akhtar. He looked and acted exactly like Milkha Singh. The award-winning film is a biopic of the Indian track star and Olympian, beginning with the Partition of India in 1947 to his time in the Army and his eventual rise as a champion of the 400m race.

Why she said no to Rakeysh?

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Divya shared how she wasn’t keen to play Farhan’s sister in the film. She said, “I wasn’t doing it because I had a huge crush on Farhan at that time. I said, ‘Why should I play his sister?’ Rakeysh said but you are an actor, you are a professional. I said, ‘Yeah but… you know…’”

Rakeysh got around to convince Divya to change her mind because eventually she was his “first and last choice” for the part. Pavan Malhotra, Yograj Singh, Art Malik, Prakash Raj and Sonam Kapoor were also part of the film’s cast. The film was written by Prasoon Joshi.

Award-winning biopic

While Bhaag Milkha Bhaag won two National Film Awards, for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Choreography. Divya won a slew of trophies for Best Supporting Actress at the Zee Cine Awards, the Producers Guild Film Awards, and the International Indian Film Academy Awards. Milkha Singh died on June 18, 2021 at age 91.

She was last seen in the Hindi film Anth The End. Last year, she also appeared in the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Dhaakad, the short film Sheer Qorma with Swara Bhaskar and Shabana Azmi, and the Punjabi film Maa.