Bohemian Rhapsody: 9 things to know about Farrokh Bulsara aka Freddie Mercury

As the much-awaited biopic British rock band Queen releases in India, let's take a further look at their India-connect. 

Yes, their flamboyant lead singer Freddie Mercury was, in fact, Farrokh Bulsara, hailing from a Parsi family in Gujrat. He got schooled in India too and is one of the greatest queer icons in the country. In a recent interview, his childhood friend Bruce Murray said that his classmates from St. Paul’s and all boys’ school in Panchgani did not know that the flamboyant lead singer and songwriter of Queen, Freddie Mercury, was the same shy, introverted, ‘Bucky’ from school.                

The screenplay of the movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, is written by Antony McCarten with Rami Malek playing the lead role of the singer. The movie follows through the life of Mercury from his days in London and ends with the infamous Live Aid performance. Here are some interesting facts about the movie and Freddie Mercury:

• The movie is a joint venture between British and American production houses- 20th Century Fox, New Regency, GK Films and Queen Films. Fox is the official distributor.
  
   
• Freddie Mercury’s actual name is Farrokh Bulsara. He was born into a Parsi family from Gujarat. However, he also held British citizenship.
  
   
• He was 12 years old when he joined a school band with friend Bruce Murray called the Hectics.
  
   
• Queen Elizabeth honoured the band Queen in 1999 by releasing a postage stamp on them.
  
   
• The title of the movie is named after the famous track of the same name as the band. Mercury started writing the song in 1968 and finally released it in 1977.
   
• The track Bohemian Rhapsody is famously called the Bo Rhap and has the world’s longest running fan club for a rock band according to Guinness World Records.
  
   
• During school days, Freddie was teased by boys who stereotypically called him 'effeminate' as he used to call other boys as darling.
   
• Brain May and Roger Taylor called themselves as 'Smile' and it was Mercury who changed the band's name to Queen in 1970.    
  
  

 

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