Rocketry The Nambi Effect Movie Review

Rocketry The Nambi Effect Movie Review

          Download Now >>>>

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is based on the life of famous Indian aerospace scientist Nambiar Narayanan. He was instrumental in developing the Vikas engine that was used for the first PSLV that India launched. As a senior official at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), he was in-charge

AD

 of the cryogenics division. In 1994, he was charged with espionage and arrested. The charges against him were dismissed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 1996 and the Supreme Court of India declared him not guilty in 1998. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian

AD

 award by the Government of India, in 2019. Despite being given a clean chit by the courts and later being honoured by the government, Nambi and his family had to bear the repercussions of being hounded by the media when the news first broke out. They were guilty in the eyes of the public and it

AD

 wasn't easy for them to get their goodwill back. More than anything else. Rocketry highlights this trauma and makes a case for how hard it is to get your life back on track once you've been targeted by a mob. The real life Nambi comes at the end of the film and says he'll never forget the wrongs done to

AD

 him and not going to forgive either. He mentioned his fight initially was just for him but later became a crusade for everyone who has been unjustly accused of wrongdoing. Madhavan, who not only has played the title role but has also directed the film, paints Nambi less as a scientist and more as a

AD

 patriotic spy. His foray into Princeton University earlier is fuelled by his zeal to learn everything that's cutting edge in the liquid fuel technology, something that India lacked sorely. He has no qualms about even becoming the house help for an ailing professor and his wife to achieve that end and manages to

AD

 write a thesis on it in record time. Then, he leads a team of Indian scientists to France to work on a liquid fuel engine and learn how to reverse engineer it for the country after learning its inner workings. Later, he's shown to broker a deal with Russia at the time of the breaking up of the Russian federation

AD

 for the cryogenic engine parts and technology. He even gets to have a snowmobile chase against the Americans hell bent on stopping the deal from going through. It's obliquely hinted that the vengeful Americans were behind his downfall. He was allegedly caught in a honeypot trap set by the Pakistanis.

AD

 Throughout the film, Nambi is shown to be extremely respectful towards women and doesn't ever stray, even when the opportunity presents itself. The film's cinematography, production design and VFX work has been excellent. You actually feel as if you're in the midst of the various rocket research

AD

 facilities. The various other luminaries of Indian aerospace research, like Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, and APJ Abdul Kalam are also referenced in the film. Though their contribution is mostly glossed over. We're made to feel that Indian avionics and aerospace is more a matter of jugaad than

AD

 actual research, something that Mission Mangal too was guilty of. Shah Rukh Khan has been roped in for an extended guest appearance. He appears as himself and is shown interviewing Nambi, as the story gets narrated in a series of flashbacks. SRK's presence lends a feel-good effect to the film, which kind

AD

 of becomes stark and bleak in the second half, where we get to see the harassment endured by Nambi and his family. These portions are not for the fainthearted for sure. The film marks the directorial debut of Madhavan. It doesn't feel like it's directed by a fresher but shows shades of being directed by a

AD

 veteran. The most harrowing scene of the film is where Simran, who plays Nambi's wife, temporarily loses her memory and fails to recognise him. The way it's depicted reminds one of Mani Ratnam. Simran and Madhavan were a celebrated on-screen couple and still retain the chemistry they share.

AD

 They may have come together after 20 years but the camaraderie is still intact. She's given yet another riveting performance and should be doing more films. Madhavan carries the film on his shoulders. We can see that he totally believes in Nambi's innocence and is hoping that the film will finally exonerate

AD

 him in the eyes of the public. He lives and breathes the character, getting the nuances right. It's not easy being both the lead actor and the director but Madhavan achieves the desired trajectory on both fronts. Watch the film for its gripping drama and for Simran's and Madhavan's performances. 

AD

 TRAILER : ROCKETRY: THE NAMBI EFFECT