Rocketry! A must-watch movie! - You can “nambu” (trust) Madhavan

 Winner of National Award for Best Feature Film!

Rocketry! A must-watch movie!

-   You can “nambu” (trust) Madhavan

Madhavan, the erstwhile matinee idol has done an excellent job of creating a movie whose time has come! It is a poignant portrayal of the patriotism of a nuclear scientist, who excelled not only in technology but also in strategic dealings with international agencies. Unfortunately such leadership and initiative of a proud Indian attracted some unwanted attention – possibly international or even anti-national elements who would rather see India not develop to its full potential.  Professionally and personally he had to pay a heavy price and India, as a country also suffered as if it was a calculated move by the aforementioned elements.

Madhavan portrays the role of the scientist, Dr. Nambi Narayanan with an uncanny resemblance in his looks and body language. The man who may have been a bit haughty and a proud scientist who had a one-point vision was not fit for an institutional setup in the Indian context. If only he had chosen the rosy, lucrative path of accepting the NASA offer, several major inventions in Space Technology would have had an Indian scientist’s name on them. But Alas, the guy had to fight to regain his name and to re-establish his innocence through a long-winded fight in the Supreme Court.  His question at the end of the movie is still very pertinent. “Yes, the courts have vindicated me, but who is the culprit? Don’t we want to know? that?” We will also leave the screen with this thought. Why? Why? Who? Who?

Despite the possible international ploy to suppress the Indian ingenuity, Indian Space Missions are now a major lucrative business venture for the country. Mars mission – Mangalyaan was so inexpensive that it was less than the cost of making the movie – Gravity. It has been a major achievement the world has to applaud, comparing the cost of similar successful missions of the big powers.

Rocketry tries to portray a balanced view of the personal and professional life of Nambi Narayanan, with a bias toward the professional life he lived. It was also wonderful to watch him confess at the end that he wasn’t able to pay attention to his wife during his hay days, despite her being the main pillar of the family. Unfortunately, the horrible events in their life broke her down badly. The insults faced by the family and Nambi himself are unthinkable and we see him call out to his favorite Goddess “Devi Bhagavathy..” many times whenever he hits the unknown stone wall of fate, so to say.

To me, the Nambi story is again an affirmation of the famous verse of the Bhagavad Gita “Karmanyeva adhikarasthe; ma phaleshu kadachana” – You only have the authority to do your karma properly, but know that the results are beyond your control. (Note that the wages you make for your work done are not the ultimate ‘result’ of your work.)

Madhavan, you are a fine filmmaker. I loved the way you told the story without any gimmicks or complex ‘rocket science’ discourses. Even the technical details you gave do not put people off as they are essential to convey the gravity of the plot. I don’t hesitate to give 4.5 stars out of 5 for the movie.  Thank you for bringing Dr. Nambi Narayana’s story to the limelight. May you be blessed with more accolades in filmmaking. You proved that people can ‘nambu’ (trust) you with any theme for that matter.

Rocketry: Amazon Prime