When real is unreal

Reality is a still a fantasy in Bollywood. Little wonder that Farhan Akhtar plays Milkha Singh, all gym-contoured abs and biceps.

The promotional ads for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag show a rather muscular and excessively gym-conscious Milkha Singh, racing across the track in slow motion, a figure of rippling biceps and contoured abs. Had this been the real Milkha, India would doubtless have secured a silver or bronze medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. But as far as I remember the real athlete was lean and skeletal, closer in physique to African runners rather than the brawn depicted in the film by Farhan Akhtar. 

In Martin Scorsese's 1980 film, Raging Bull, Robert de Niro's depiction of the self-destructive life of boxer Jake Lomotta, required him to gain weight and fatten his body, while Ashton Kutcher thinned out suitably to become Steve Jobs in the yet to be released Jobs.