Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is a 2022 Indian biographical drama film based on the life of Nambi Narayanan, a former scientist and aerospace engineer of the Indian Space Research Organisation, who was accused in the ISRO espionage case and later exonerated. The film is written, produced and directed by R. Madhavan, who also plays the lead role. 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.
After its official announcement in October 2018, principal photography took place across several countries including India, Russia and France. The cinematography and editing for the film were handled by Sirsha Ray and Bijith Bala, respectively, whilst the original score is composed by Sam C. S. Filmed simultaneously in English, Tamil and Hindi, it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2022 and was theatrically released on 1 July 2022.
A film based on the espionage case of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan was first announced to the media in September 2012 by director Anant Mahadevan. Journalist C. P. Surendran had proposed the idea for a potential film on Narayanan to Mahadevan during June 2012. The two then met Narayanan in person to discuss the idea and seek his permission, and he agreed to serve as a consultant for the project.
Malayalam actor Mohanlal was cast in the role of Narayanan, while Resul Pookutty, Sreekar Prasad and L. Subramaniam were finalised as the sound designer, editor and music composer for the project. Titled The Witch Hunt, the film was to be made in the Hindi and Malayalam languages. The team were in talks with several production houses but the project eventually did not take off as planned. Mahadevan later narrated the idea of the film to actor R. Madhavan in the mid-2010s, who helped take the film forward.
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