Nikkhil Advani says Vikram Sarabhai’s family was ’emotional’ after watching Rocket Boys, teases about Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway

Here is the excerpt from the conversation:

Rocket Boys is out and receiving great reviews. How does it feel?

When we decided to make the show, I knew that we were trying something special. I’m just glad that the audience has embraced it and understood what we have tried to do. It’s a special story with special people.

But science or anything related to it hasn’t been explored much. Weren’t you sceptical?

I know people don’t explore science much in terms of entertainment. I am a science graduate. And for me and director-writer Abhay Pannu, who is an engineer, we wanted to demystify it. I truly believe that if you can demystify, you can make it magical. But if you’d watch the show expecting it’s going to be scientific, you will be disappointed. Yes, Dr Bhabha was the father of atomic energy and Dr Sarabhai Baba was the father of space research, but their lives were much more than just that. So, when you’d watch Rocket Boys, you will experience the period of 1942-1962 in a wholesome manner. It’s not just about science, It’s about the people of that period, the culture, the art and what these two men did to influence it.

You sound very excited about this project.

It’s been 10 years since I’ve been producing projects. With every production, we can say that this is the kind of content we want to make. The interesting thing about being a production company is that we can provide a voice, not only to a filmmaker like me but also to newbies like Abhay Pannu, the writer-director of Rocket Boys or The Empire writer Mitakshara Kumar.

We are also making a film titled Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway with Asheema Chibber, a lovely director who made Mere Dad Ki Maruti. She got an outstanding script for us, which we narrated to Rani Mukerji, and she loved it. So, the point is that as a production house, it’s our job to provide a voice to the individual talent that we are working with. We will support your vision. And whether that vision takes us to the cinema hall or OTT, we are happy to do it.

I also wanted to talk about the casting. It’s unusual. Jim Sarbh, especially.

He’s a phenomenal actor. When we called him, the first thing he said – ‘I’m so glad you did not call me for a negative role.’

It took us two years to make this show because we were shooting for two seasons simultaneously. So, we needed somebody who was not gonna turn and say, “I’m done.” We wanted someone to be immersed with us in the project. We provided Ishwak and Jim with all this material to consume — research, diary, letters, all the films — and then we told them to forget because back then, Mr Bhabha or Mr Sarabhai didn’t know they would become so fundamental in India’s history of science.

Ishwak learned Gujarati, Jim learned how to play the violin, the two learned about physics because we wanted them to be natural on screen.

What about the actor who plays APJ Abdul Kalam?

That’s a secret. You’ll find out eventually. Just for everybody, he’s a big part of Sarabhai’s life. What Sarabhai was to Homi Bhabha, APJ Abdul Kalam is to Sarabhai. He’s the third rocket boy. He’s Arjun Radhakrishnan, casting director Kavish Sinha’s find.

 

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A post shared by Jim Sarbh (@jimsarbhforreal)

How involved were Mr Bhabha and Mr Sarabhai’s families in the making of the series?

Mr Bhabha has no family. His brother was the only relative who passed away recently. He gave his entire estate to National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. Mr Bhabha had distant grand nephews and nieces but they never met him and have only heard stories like us. When it’s about Sarabhai’s family, we met Mallika Sarabhai, Kartikeya Sarabhai and Vivanta Sarabhai. They were part of our research team. They were part of the making throughout. Mallika choreographed a dance sequence performed by her mother Mrinalini Sarabhai, which was an emotional moment for her. They saw the episodes a week ago. They were very emotional and moved.

It is interesting how the trajectory of your career changed from directing films like Kal Ho Na Ho, Salaam-E-Ishq to making realistic projects like Rocket Boys, Mumbai Diaries 26/11, Batla House and so on.

I think I find it fascinating to read about real-life characters, especially characters that most people would not consider heroes. For instance, it is interesting that people talk about how Air India is not up to the mark. But then you read a story about how they lifted 177,000 people from a war-torn country. I found that fascinating and made Airlift. The important thing is to find a beat, a direction. When I made Mumbai Diaries 26/11, I wanted to make it about frontline workers who are always at war. So, I think I gravitate towards an important character or an important incident that needs to be celebrated or documented.

But don’t you think that over the years, making patriotic films or a movie based on an event has become a formula that guarantees hit?

Yes, I think so. There is a formula but now, it is being challenged. In the last two years, the audience got exposed to content from across the world. Now, they are more informed. They are now able to differentiate between nationalism and jingoism. The last two years were kind of awakening as far as content is concerned.

So, this means we can’t expect a masala/family entertainer like Kal Ho Na Ho from you…

Kal Ho Na Ho was in 2003. I don’t think I know how to do it anymore.

But people do revisit it…

Of course, they do, and I think that’s why it’s a classic. Back then, when we were making films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kal Ho Naa Ho or Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham, everybody came together to celebrate Shah Rukh Khan. Today, I don’t think I know how to make such a film. I leave it to the expert. But I do love watching such (masala) films too. Recently, I watched Pushpa and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A still from Kal Ho Na Ho.

Isn’t it amazing to see content like Pushpa and Rocket Boys being lapped up by the audience simultaneously?

The time we are living in is fantastic and liberating as a content creator because you can make Rocket Boys but you can also go into a theatre and watch Pushpa. So, the world is your oyster. And once the cinemas open to their 100% capacity, people will go scurrying back.

In an interview, Karan Johar spoke about how Hindi content needs to reinvent itself. How much do you agree?

When it comes to Indian content, filmmakers like Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Atul Gopalkrishnan and more, are celebrated across the globe. But when it comes to Hindi, it needs to find its audience abroad. Ritesh Batra did that with Lunchbox, Meera Nair did with Namesake. But these are filmmakers who come from abroad and make their films. I don’t know if we need to reinvent but whatever it is, it will happen over time because we have already stepped into the direction of making films that have global appeal. Filmmakers such as Hansal Mehta, Sudhir Mishra and Anubhav Sinha are making that happen.

And lastly, in your perspective, what is going to change the most about movies post the pandemic?

Eventually, what I think is that the Friday scene is going to go out of the window and the word-of-mouth promotion is going to come back. I grew up with the notion of silver jubilee or golden jubilee or platinum jubilee when films used to run for 25 weeks, 50 weeks or 100 weeks at the box office. I think that can come back.