The makers of Rocket Boys, the story of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, recreate some momentous moments from history…
Sheetal
It is the story of two names India mustn’t forget- Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, played by Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh, respectively. Little wonder then, the trailer of Rocket Boys has crossed 20 million views! Not only is the cast amazing, but the producers, Nikhil Advani and Siddharth Roy Kapur, bring a show that Indians can be proud of. Collaborating for the first time, Nikhil and Siddharth, it has many firsts — right from Abhay Pannu’s debut project to a series whose two seasons have been shot already!
We recreated the rocket launch that happened in Thumba Balasore on the beach of Alibaug. We had all the actors in the same costumes, as on the day history was made. It was epic, considering the restrictions. — Nikhil Advani
It was the concept pitched by writer Abhay Koranay about Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Nikhil and I looked at them as individual scientists and characters, but Abhay projected it as a single story. — Siddharth Roy Kapur
Unique plot
On how Rocket Boys came into being, Siddharth says, “It was the concept pitched by writer Abhay Koranay about Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Nikhil and I looked at both these legends as individual scientists and characters who had their own journeys. But Abhay projected it as a single story and how their lives were intertwined. Bhabha and Sarabhai fed off each other, had a mentor-mentee relationship. They had contradicting views on how to take the country forward, but above it all they were friends who stood by each other. We were immediately interested.”
Into the limelight
Despite bringing much talent on board, be it writers, actors or directors,isn’t it true that major OTT platforms still shy away from mentioning writers’ names in the credits? Sidharth answers, “I believe writers are getting more attention now because of OTT. Digital space has givenwriters that pride of place that they deserved in the first place. To be able to write even one forty-five minutes episode takes a huge amount of effort and it is rightly acknowledged these days.”
Two seasons
The second season is in post-production stage too. Rocket Boys Season 1 will be available on February 4 on Sony LIV. Besides Jim and Ishwak, the series stars Regina Cassandra, Rajit Kapoor, Arjun Radhakrishnan(As APJ Abdul Kalam), Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Saba Azad and Namit Das.
Looking back, Nikhil had two memorable moments, “One was to see Mallika Sarabhahi (and her son Revanta Sarabhai) choreograph her mother Mrinalini Sarabhai’s dance for the series. Mrinalini is a trained Bharatnatyam and Kathakali dancer, and wife of Vikram Sarabhai. The other was when we recreated the rocket launch that happened in Thumba Balasore on the beach of Alibaug. We had all the actors in the same costumes, as on the day history was made. It was epic, considering the restrictions. It seemed an impossible shoot, but the production team pulled it off exactly in the same manner.”
Big responsibility
Talking about the back-to-back shows (The Empire and Mumbai Diaries 26/11) that Nikhil has given from his end, Siddharth says, “Nikhil is a complete package; someone whom anybody would love to collaborate with.” On the other hand, Nikhil humbly transfers the creditto his director Abhay Pannu. He adds, “He is committed and driven.This is his debut and he understands the responsibility he has been given. He doesn’t take it lightly.”
