Nikkhil Advani on 'Rocket Boys': Script was shared with Sarabhai's family at early stage

Nikkhil Advani recently announced his upcoming passion project, Rocket Boys. The Sony Liv series will focus on the lives and achievements of India's three greatest and brightest scientists; Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and APJ Abdul Kalam as it chronicles their immense contribution in the fields of nuclear physics and space research. Nikkhil has recently commenced the shooting for the space-drama series in Jaipur, with his cast and crew all set to explore the iconic Indian scientists' contribution to Indian space research and development.

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More on Rocket Boys cast and development

Procuring necessary permissions for the real-life stories could have posed a difficulty, but Advani says the team had initiated talks with the Sarabhai and Bhabha families by late 2019, for more insight into the lives of the late scientists. In an interview to Mid-Day, Nikkhil Advani said that the script for Rocket Boys was shared at an early stage with the Sarabhai family. The film's team had also spoken to Homi Bhabha's family in hopes of developing a more "authentic" story on the great scientists. The unit kicked off the Abhay Pannu-directed project in Jaipur last month, with Ishwak Singh of Paatal Lok fame playing Vikram Sarabhai. The late scientist’s daughter Mallika Sarabhai has also graciously agreed to help the film's crew, with respect to the choreography. Her son is also reportedly one of the main dancers in one of the dance sequences filmed. 

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Stripping right down to the essentials, Advani agrees that human drama is one of his most ambitious projects. However, he is confident of doing justice to the subject matter using limited resources for the film. In 2016, Nikkhil Advani produced the 2016 historical drama Airlift on a smaller budget than was expected. According to the publication, Advani said that big stories can be pulled off with a small budget if the planning is done meticulously. Earlier, the co-producer of the series sent him the early footage of the film, to which Nikkhil said he was impressed with the production quality.

At the moment, the producer is unwilling to reveal who has stepped into the shoes of Homi Bhabha and APJ Abdul Kalam. Instead, all he revealed is that the story of the three great minds will have them traversing India and the UK. He said the series shooting will be a gruelling 150-day schedule. The show will be shot across Mumbai, Pune, Rajasthan, Mussoorie, Cambridge and London. The crew will attempt to shoot in the last two cities post-April this year when the lockdown in the UK is hopefully lifted.

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