Milkha's success casts a long shadow on the boxoffice

The phenomenal boxoffice success of the Milkha Singh biopic has thrown the movie business into a tizzy. While in the first week Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s biopic raked in approximately Rs 55 crores, in the second week it maintained a lead over the new releases, raking in Rs 3.58 crores in Mumbai, as opposed to the Rs 3.42 crores opening for Prabhudheva’s new release Ramaiyya Vastavaiya and Rs 2.45 crores for Nikhil Advani’s D Day. Says the film’s jubilant director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, “Our film’s reach has exceeded all our expectations. We knew Milkhaji’s story would have a resonant emotional impact. But we couldn’t have guessed it would reach so far and wide.” The immediate impact of the ace-runner’s saga is a heightened interest in films related to sports and sports persons. Debutant director Omang Kumar is shooting a biopic on boxer Mary Kom. Ekta Kapoor has bought the movie rights of the life of cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin. And a biopic on the life of legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand is in the pipeline. Says Farhan Akhtar, “I am just so happy. Acceptance and recognition of one’s effort is such a wonderful feeling.”