A few days ago, actor R Madhavan said in a video message: "There are certain stories, which if you haven't heard, it is equivalent to not caring enough about your country. This is one such story, about Nambi Narayanan. When you hear this man's story, and see his achievements, I promise you will never be able to stay silent."
On Wednesday, the makers of the film released the teaser of the film that Madhavan talked about - 'Rocketry: The Nambi effect'.
The teaser shows a rocket blasting off on a mission to Mars, while Nambi (played by Madhavan), handcuffed, watches from behind bars.
The film is a biopic of the popular ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely arrested for espionage in 1994. He was acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
Ananth Mahadevan, a national award-winning director, has helmed the project. In an interview with Firstpost, he revealed that the story will begin from Nambi's Princeton days in his thirties, upto the time when the spy case takes place. The director said that Madhavan has tried to get into the skin of Nambi so much that prosthetics was not required.
In a press meet on Wednesday, Madhavan, who is also the co-director of the film, said that it took him 7 months to write the first draft through meetings with the scientist. "He dislikes talking about his achievements, so I was focusing more on his arrest and legal case."
"I later realised what his real contributions to Indian space research actually was. I threw away the first draft and rewrote the film over the next year and half," he added.
Scientist Nambi Narayanan also spoke at the press meet, appreciating the filmmakers and their narration.
"I have spent 35 years in rocketry, creating small to 60-ton rockets. I have also spent 50 days in jail. When I met the filmmakers, I was impressed by their narration. I knew they could tell the story. The evidence was in my tears."
The film is said to release in Tamil, Hindi and English and will reach the theatres in 2019.