Rocketry: The Nambi Effect

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect
Directed by	Anant Mahadevan R. Madhavan
Produced by	R. Madhavan
Starring	R. Madhavan
Music by	Sam C. S.
Production companies	Tricolour Films Varghese Moolan Pictures Saffron Ganesha Entertainment
Release date	2019
Country	India
Languages	English Hindi Tamil

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is an upcoming Indian biographical drama film based on the life of Nambi Narayanan, a former scientist and aerospace engineer of the Indian Space Research Organisation. The film is written, co-produced and co-directed by R. Madhavan, who also stars in the lead role. Shot simultaneously in English, Hindi and Tamil, the film is also co-directed by Anant Mahadevan and features a soundtrack composed by Sam CS. The story spans across Narayanan's days as a graduate student at Princeton University, before exploring his work as a scientist and the false espionage charges placed upon him.

Having begun pre-production works in early 2017, the film was launched in October 2018, and has a proposed release date of summer 2019.

Cast

• R. Madhavan as Nambi Narayanan

Production

Development

Work on the project was first reported by R. Madhavan in the media during April 2017, when he announced that he was set to appear in a biopic featuring the "extraordinary story of an unsung hero", who was "neither an actor or a sportsman". He called the project his "biggest film ever" and stated that he had worked silently on the script of the film for a period of two years after becoming intrigued by hearing the tale of the former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan's false espionage charge. To develop the script and to provide a more factual account of the events, Madhavan regularly met with Narayanan, garnering his approval for the film and discussing the scientist's life experiences. As a result of their conversations, Madhavan chose to alter his original script to include portions from Narayanan's entire career and his services to the Indian space programme, rather than just matters related to his 1994 arrest. For the script, he also took inspiration from Narayanan's autobiography Ormakalude Bhramanapadham (2017) and Arun Ram's official biography of the scientist titled Ready To Fire: How India and I Survived the ISRO Spy Case (2018).

In October 2017, Madhavan confirmed that pre-production work for the film was underway and that he would portray Narayanan from the ages of 27 to 75, and that he was gaining weight to film the scenes featuring the older version of Narayanan first, after taking advice from Aamir Khan. Madhavan also announced that alongside his screenwriting and acting credits, he would also be one of the producers of the project.

Cast and crew

In late 2017, Madhavan held discussions with the likes of S. S. Rajamouli to be the film's director, before confirming Anant Mahadevan, who had previously directed Madhavan in the Hindi television serial Ghar Jamai (1997) and the romantic drama film, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002). In regard to making of the film, Anant Mahadevan stated that he hoped to differ in the script in comparison to other biographical films, and suggested that he would not call the film a "biopic" but an "incisive investigation into a brilliant mind and India's ambitious space technology". He also added that he felt that Madhavan was the "only Indian actor qualified to do this part" owing to his background as an electronic engineer with air-force training, and because he was "a thinking-actor who is also well-read".

The title of the film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect and a teaser for the film was unveiled in late October 2018, with Madhavan also announced as a joint director of the film. A launch event also coincided with the teaser release, with Madhavan, Anant Mahadevan and Nambi Narayanan in attendance.

Filming

The film was shot simultaneously as a trilingual production in the English, Hindi and Tamil languages.

See also

• Nambi Narayanan