R Madhavan's dream project is Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, based on the eventful and also tragic life of ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely accused of espionage. The actor, who was so moved by the story, chose to direct and produce the film himself. Such was his passion for the material that he managed to source for the movie.
The film, which took longer than expected to make and release to due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, finally saw the light of the day on July 1.
The film, which is Madhavan's directorial debut, also features Simran, Misha Ghoshal, Ravi Raghavendra, among others, in supporting roles.
Mixed reviews for Rocketery
The film is based on the life of ex-ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan who had a pivotal hand in launching the Vikas engine that launched India's first PSLV.
His stellar career was cut short in 1994 when he got caught in a (false) espionage case and accused of "selling Indian rocketry secrets to Pakistan." Though the charges against him were proved to wrong and motivated, the man and his family had suffered a lot ignominy that can hardly be undone.
The film upon its release has garnered conflicting reviews. Almost all reviewers have praised Madhavan for his acting and also his hard work in getting an important story of a man wronged to the larger public. But it is his direction that has copped a fair amount of flak. Many reviewers criticised the movie for lacking in nuance or any layer. The actor was also panned, in suggestion, for catering to the jingoist nationalistic mood of the country as the film rarely looks outside of its gaze on Nambi Narayanan. There is an element of 'cringe' in the way the source material has been treated is the implicit criticism.
But the film, which released on July 1, seems to be doing reasonably okay, especially the Hindi version in theatres. It was also screened at Marche du Film, the "film market" at the Cannes Film Festival.
Nope not now . https://t.co/OmiG5JTNMhJuly 10, 2022
As is the norm these days, there is considerable expectation around the film's probable OTT release date. On Twitter, where Madhavan is active, a question was posed to him on his plans to release it on OTT.
In a no-nonsense response, Madhavan replied: "Nope not now."
But the industry grapevine has it that the film might stream from mid-August, once the one-month window for release opens. The most likely platform to get it is Amazon Prime Video.
For the record, Madhavan will next be seen in Dhokha—Round D Corner, which is set for a September 23 theatrical release. He also has Kalpesh Garg's Amriki Pandit, which is in the making.
- Vikram, Ante Sundaraniki, Dear Friend lead OTT releases - July 8 weekend
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