India’s R. Madhavan Talks Cannes Market Film ‘Rocketry’: ‘I Feel A Sense of Pride’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran For acclaimed Indian actor R. Madhavan ( (“Alai Payuthey,” “Tanu Weds Manu”), making his directorial debut, “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect,” literally required an understanding of rocket science.In addition to directing, Madhavan plays the role of Indian scientist, Nambi Narayanan, a former Indian Space Research Organization scientist and aerospace engineer known for developing efficient liquid fuel engines and who became embroiled in a spy scandal.The director attached to the project had to drop out at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts and Madhavan who had a deep understanding of the script having written it himself after conversations with Narayanan had to take up the mantle. “At that point of time to get somebody to understand rocket science or liquid fuel engine or what rocketry is or what a specific impulse is, or what escape velocity is and how it has to be depicted, a ready director of that caliber in the industry was next to impossible,” Madhavan tells Variety. “So the choices were dump the film or take the plunge as a director.”Narayanan and the film’s funders were absolutely sure that Madhavan direct it. “Narayanan was initially very skeptical of my ability to understand what he had achieved as a rocket scientist, because it literally is rocket science,” says Madhavan. “But I’m an engineer.

And over a period of conversations, you should have seen his excitement when I completely understood exactly what I was saying and preempted his terminologies.”Over the course of the meetings with Narayanan who is a fan of his work, Madhavan went beyond the film’s elevator pitch — space scientist in spy scandal — and realized the depth of his angst. “I met a man who had deep rooted angst.