Divya Dutta ‘had a strong crush’ on Farhan Akhtar, refused to play his sister in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag: ‘Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra told me…’

“I was tagged as an unconventional heroine when I did Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. There, I wasn’t romancing the hero, but it was an adorable role. I was initially hesitant to do the movie because I had a strong crush on Farhan Akhtar. When director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra narrated the role to me, I said, ‘no, I won’t play Farhan’s sister’. He reminded me that I am an actor,” she said, blushing, adding that she’s now blushing thinking how stupid of her to have said that to the director.

“I further asked Mehra, ‘how could I play his sister if I don’t feel that emotion towards him?’ But he said firmly that if someone was doing the role, it would be me. He had such faith in me. He always gave me something new to me. I am thankful to him,” she added.

A biographical sports drama based on the life of Indian athlete and Olympian Milkha Singh, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag became a huge success and bagged two trophies at the National Film Awards of 2014.

Dutta was last seen in Umesh Shukla’s comedy film Aankh Micholi, which also starred Paresh Rawal, Abhimanyu Dassani, Mrunal Thakur and Sharman Joshi.