Rocket boys; inspiring tale of dreams of 2 men which sowed seeds of India’s space & nuclear Programme


By Rajesh Ahuja


The year 1942: As  India's movement for Independence from British rule was gathering steam under the inspiring leadership of Mahatma Gandhi,  two young men at the Indian Institute of Science were envisioning dreams of sending a rocket into the space, a dream that  sowed the seeds for India's Space programme,  which took wings in the 50s and the 60s, kickstarting  India's journey to becoming a Space power

Narrating the story of Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha,  pioneers of India’s space Programme,  is a new series Rocket Boys, streaming on Sony Liv.


Rocket Boys is an inspirational tale of dreams of two men which sowed seeds of India’s space and nuclear programme 



Produced by Roy Kapur films and directed by Abhay Pannu, Rocket boys tells the story of Vikrant Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha whose dreams of sending a rocket in space laid foundations of India's space programme, setting the stage for a technolocal revolution.

Spanning across three decades, Rocket Boys takes viewers thrrough the inspirational journey of Homi bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, two men with a futuristic vision for the country that helped catapult India into the league of Nations who made atomic bomb and who send their Rocket in space.

Hailing from privileged families,who formed a miniscule majority in pre independent India, Vikram Sarabhai and Homi bhabha had dreams of nurturing India's technolocal revolution that would catapult India from an importer of goods to becoming self dependent on manufacture of goods and commodities.

Forced to drop out of Cambridge in his last year of engineering due to break out of World war 2, Sarabhai joins indian institute of science headed by c v Raman. A meeting with Homi bhabha, a professor at the ii's, marks the beginning of a long association between the two as they together work to lay strong foundations of the country in the field of physics,  space and nuclear energy , which culminate India sending india's first rocket into the space and making India's first atomic bomb.

Rocket Boys takes us through the struggles , pains, frustrations and  ecstacies of the scientists as they weather challenges and impediments like lack of financial backing and paucity in infrastructure in the realization of  their dreams.

While narrating the events that set the stage for India's technological revolution,  Rocket Boys also touches upon the national movement led by Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi,  to free the country from British rule.

It also provides a glimpse into the love life of Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha

Amid a surfeit of crime and suspense thrillers dominating the OTT space,  Rocket Boys comes across as a breath of fresh air which helps us revisit a glorious chapter of our history,  which gives us a peep into the challenges and efforts that went into developing a robust space programme and nuclear energy programme.

The eight episodes series boasts of lavish production values , bringing out an accurate picture of that period which saw a newly independent India take its baby steps in the direction of becoming an economic andtechnological power.

Director and writer Abhay Pannu brings out the old world charm of that era through his story telling .

Another USP of the series are its performances.

Jim Sarbh is exceptional as the cocky Homi Bhabha whose single  minded focus  is to make India  nuclear superpower.  He is brilliant as a person  for whom his ambitions hold precedence over other things.

Ishwak Singh impresses as Vikram Sarabhai,  a sharp contrast to the cocky Homi Bhabha with his simplicity and his matter of fact demeanor .

Regina Cassandra comes across as cute and endearing as Mrinalini who is drawn by the simplicity of Vikram Sarabhai .

Rajit Kapoor pitches in with a  good performances as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru while Dibyendu Bhattacharya is effective as Dr Raza,who is envious of the success of Homi bhabha.

Rest of the cast,  including Saba Azad, Arjun Radhakrishnan and Namit Das lend able support.

In short Rocket Boys is a path-breaking and inspirational tale of dreams and passions of two men which sowed seeds of India’s space and nuclear programme.

My Rating; 4/5


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