As Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, a film on the ups and downs in the life of aerospace and cryogenic scientist Nambi Narayanan, reaches theatres on July 1, Nambi is happy to watch the excitement and pre-release hype from the quietude of his home in Thiruvananthapuram.
Starring R Madhavan in the lead role as Nambi, the film, also written, produced and directed by Madhavan, covers Nambi’s student days at Princeton, his trailblazing career as a scientist in the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) and the trauma he went through when a false case of espionage was foisted on him in 1994.
His career and personal life plummeted on account of the case and he became the victim of a media witch hunt that dragged his name into the headlines in the sensational case.
When Madhavan decided to do the film about five years ago, he contacted Nambi and they met in Thiruvananthapuram for the first time. Once, Nambi agreed to the film, the two closely interacted at every stage of the film, including the scripting. “My story left him in tears,” recalls Nambi.
He says that Madhavan’s film narrates the unvarnished truth with nothing to add or subtract from it. “Only facts are narrated in the film. Certain portions had to be toned down for viewers, particularly the police torture. It was much more than what is shown in the film,” says the octogenarian.
He fought a legal battle to clear his name and in 1998, the Supreme Court found him not guilty of the charges. Trials and tribulations have made Nambi stoic. He says he would rather look ahead than dwell in the past.
Nambi was keen on the film focussing on the case and how he fought till the Supreme Court to prove his innocence. “But Madhavan told me that most people know me only in connection with the espionage case. He wanted viewers to know about my contributions to the nation and my achievements,” he says.
However, the pragmatic scientist says he never saw them as exceptional achievements but as his duty and profession for which he was paid a salary. The veteran scientist says that there is no sensationalism in the film. “Madhavan is a great guy. He is ‘Maa Dhavan’. In Tamil, Ma, means great, periya while ‘dhavan’ means ‘messenger’ in Sanskrit. He was passionate about making this film on my life and work. He wanted to highlight my achievements and not the unhappy incidents in my life,” says Nambi.
He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2019 and was financially compensated for the trauma he had to endure.
Is there a message he would like to convey through the film, especially to mediapersons? “One has to write with care. What I have to say might be boring. But when there is sensitive news, particularly one that affects an individual, his family, and personal life, one should be extra careful in investigating it and reporting it,” he says.
Twenty-seven years later, Nambi says he is no longer affected by those events that were excruciatingly painful back then. “But my children and wife have said they will not watch the film as they do now want to relive those years. I watched it with Madhavan. It is well made with no melodrama. Some of the scenes had to be edited out as it would take at least four hours to narrate the complete story. It is hard not to be emotional while watching it,” he says.
More than anything, Nambi asserts that he has been vindicated. “In my conscience, I knew I was innocent of all that I was accused of. But I was determined to prove it to others. Step by step, I was exonerated.”
