Paan Singh Tomar, one of Milkha Singh's contemporaries in the Indian Army and as an athlete, did become infamous as a dacoit. Both have won gold medals in 1958 Asian Games in athletics.
Milkha Singh presented his shoes that he wore during the Rome Olympic to Farhan Akhtar during the shoot of the movie.
Milkha challenged Farhan Akhtar for a race when they met for the first time during their research for the film.
Athlete Milkha Singh, on whose life the film is based, charged Rs 1 only for his contribution to the film. He provided the minute details of his life to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and his team so that they could come up with a nuanced screenplay.
Milkha Singh turned down an offer of the Arjuna Award from the Indian government, arguing that it was intended to recognize young sports people and not those such as him.
Loy Mendonsa: The bald man wearing a hat and playing the guitar in the Australian pub Milkha Singh visits during the song "Slow Motion Angreza". Mendonsa and his colleague, Shankar Mahadevan, both sang on this track. However, Mendonsa is the keyboardist, not the guitarist, of Shankar Ehsaan Loy.