Rocketry: The Nambi Effect
Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is a 2022 Indian biographical drama film written, produced and directed by R. Madhavan in his directorial debut. The film is based on the life of Nambi Narayanan, played by Madhavan, a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, who was accused in the ISRO espionage case and later exonerated. The story spans across Narayanan's days as a graduate student at Princeton University, before exploring his work as a scientist and the false espionage charges placed upon him. After its official announcement in October 2018, principal photography took place across several countries including India, Russia and France. The cinematography and editing were handled by Sirsha Ray and Bijith Bala, respectively, while the original score is composed by Sam C. S. Rocketry was filmed simultaneously in Tamil, Hindi and English languages. Rocketry premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on May 19 and had its theatrical release worldwide on July 1, 2022. The film opened to mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised Madhavan's performance, his screenplay and his noble intention to make the film. The film garnered recognition with several awards and honors, including being an official contender in the Best Film category at the 95th Academy Awards. In 2023, among other accolades, Rocketry notably won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Plot

During the present time in a televised interview with actor Shah Rukh Khan (Hindi)/Suriya (Tamil), Nambi Narayanan walks through the events leading to his rise as an eminent engineer to alleged espionage and treason charges, coupled with physical and mental cruelty against him and his family. He starts with his experiences at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, where he saves A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, one of his team members from a major injury during an experiment. In 1969, he is accepted into Princeton University for his MSE in chemical rocket propulsion, at the expense of the Indian government. Nambi successfully completes his MSE under the mentorship and tutelage of professor Luigi Crocco, who recommends him for a fellowship at NASA. While working in NASA with Barry Amaldev, he is offered a huge paycheck, permanent posting, along with other allowances. He rejects it and returns to India in the hopes of using his talents at ISRO. Working at ISRO, he manages to get 400 million pounds of equipment from Scotland, for free. However, after the suspicious death of Vikram Sarabhai, he did not have the adequate support from ISRO or funds from the Indian government to continue his research. At this point, Nambi strikes a deal with the French scientific community, who need skilled scientists to help them build their own liquid fuel engine. He then moves to France with his colleagues, hoping to learn from France's advanced technology, so that they may recreate it back in India. Unbeknownst to the French, Nambi and his 52 colleagues have learnt French before their journey but pretend to not understand them. After being kept out of their major discussions, Nambi's team tries to find a way to gain access to these meetings and test data. It is then that they discover that the French engine is faulty. Nambi uses this opportunity to gain access to the required data in exchange for fixing the engine. The team then returns to India and starts working on building their own engine, based on liquid fuels. However, due to lack of resources, it takes 8 additional years to complete their prototype. They test the engine at the same testing facility in France, where it goes above the 135 pressure mark, and all the way to 180. Successful in his plans, Nambi returns to India after naming the engine, "VIKAS" after Vikram Sarabhai, whom he considers as his mentor. Nambi's focus is now on cryogenic engines, which he believes will make India competent to participate in the world satellite market. Knowing ISRO's limitations in terms of time and resources, Nambi decides to purchase these engines from another other country. He strikes a deal with the USSR, after informing them that he knows about their cryogenic missiles, informed by a Russian friend of his, in Princeton. He requests four engines to be imported to India. After the Russians agree, the Americans find out about this deal and try their best to break it. While the USSR is on the brink of collapse, Nambi and his colleagues manage to expedite the transfer process and sneak out a couple of engines from under the Americans' nose, with the help of the Russians. Back in India, one day, Nambi is arrested out of the blue, while news of his treason spreads like wildfire. He is taken to a guest house in Trivandrum, where he is beaten and tortured in an attempt to make him confess to his alleged crimes. He also recognizes that the officials are trying to make him repeat their sentences and that there is a recording device in the room to capture the same. However, Nambi holds his ground and denies all charges. It was alleged that Nambi met Mariam, a Maldivian woman, in a hotel in Madras and after being caught in her trap, he was forced to sell India's rocketry secrets to Pakistan. After being hospitalized from his injuries, Nambi is met by a CBI official, P. M. Nair, who thoroughly investigates the matter. Nair finds Mariam and interrogates her and her friend, along with a few others. Mariam and her friend reveal that the Malayali police officer in charge of the investigation, Gopal, tortured and threatened them to falsely incriminate Nambi, whom they have never met before. They also apologize to him for completely tarnishing his reputation and causing pain to him and his family. Nair also figures out that all of the accused people in the case are members of the cryogenic wing at ISRO, and concludes that it was a huge ploy by some powerful parties to hinder India's progress in the cryogenic sector. Months later, Nambi receives bail and returns to his house to find his family members traumatized by the way they were treated by the society. Nambi's wife, Meena Narayanan, is in need of urgent psychiatric help and the rest of his family are still shunned by the society. Hence, Nambi decides that he has to clear his name publicly, so that his family members can lead normal and peaceful lives in the future. Years later, Nambi is proven innocent by the Supreme Court and returns to ISRO, helping his colleagues with the Mangalyaan mission. Following the success of the mission, in 2019, Nambi is awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to Indian Space Research. After hearing his story, Shah Rukh Khan/Suriya feels so bad for Nambi, that he apologizes to Nambi on the behalf of the whole nation, as the interview ends. The real Nambi is shown receiving the Padma Bhushan award from the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. 