THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, on whose life ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ -- which won the ‘Best Feature Film’ award — is based, on Thursday said he anticipated the accolade. As the 69th National Film Awards were being announced in New Delhi, nearly 3,000km away, in Perunthanni, a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram, the 81-year-old was glued to his television set in anticipation.
And, he was not disappointed. A day after the success of the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission, the news of the award came as a double bonanza. R Madhavan wore many hats for the film, writing the script, directing it and playing the role of the protagonist, called Nambi from the United States to share in the happiness.
“It’s indeed a great feeling to win the award. I’m happy. Honestly, I was anticipating an award. When ‘Rocketry’ was shown in theatres, I saw many people emerging with heavy hearts. The film had indeed struck a chord. Now I understand that this was the case with jury members, too,” said Nambi.
At the same time, Nambi was slightly apprehensive as the film was pitted against blockbusters such as S S Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’. But when jury chairman Ketan Mehta announced the winner, Nambi recalled the hardships he and Madhavan endured.
“After our first meeting, it took Madhavan a year to complete the script. When it was finally ready to hit the theatres, the pandemic happened. Now when I look back, the hard work has paid off,” he said.