Rocket Boys

Such a great story and biography of two extraordinary Indian scientists. This series the the future of India and very inspirational. And a Greatest scientist APJ ABDUL KALAM sir entry was suberb.

How do you tell a story about a subject which is so easily ignored?

To me, this series was a really interesting way to know about the people who built the critical strategic assets in terms of Scientific Institutes.

While all the actors were splendid in their characters, Jim Sarbh steals the show with this iconic portrayal of Homi Jahangir Bhabha.

Loved the way the story of approx 3 decades has been arranged. The BGM adds much color to the scene.

I guess this will easily be the next hit for Sony LIV after Scam 1992.

Kudos to the team!

"Often the best minds tend to lose objectivity in their pursuit of excellence." We often glorify our freedom fighters, our armed personnel, historical monarchs. We are literally obsessed with our sports stars, our movie stars. We talk about our politicians, leaders. And there are lots of movies and web series on them. But, when it comes to "the best minds" who have pioneered our country's development in the field of science, our film industries really lack on-screen portrayals. However, thanks to the rising dominance of the OTT platforms that we've now found at least one.

"Rocket Boys" on Sony Liv is not only a mere historical period-drama with a high proportion of knowledge and enriched with content but also is a fitting tribute to some of the ignited minds of our beautiful country like CV Raman, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, and last but not the least APJ Abdul Kalam who gave their whole lives to our nation-building through their sole favourite field of science. The day I've watched the trailer, I've decided to have a go at this series. And after finishing all 8 episodes, I can say that it didn't disappoint me. The story focuses on the lives of mainly Dr. Homi J. Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and their efforts to strengthen India's first Nuclear Programme and India's first space programme. Expectedly, there are many moments of goosebumps and some "tears of joy" moments as well. Especially, the hosting of the flag at the climax of the 1st episode, the first entry of the teenage APJ Abdul Kalam at the end of the 4th episode, and the speech of Dr. Sarabhai at his cotton mill in Ahmedabad were enough to get that extra emotional spark in my mind and body as a proud Indian. And that moment where Dr. Bhabha had finally launched India's first nuclear reactor 'Apsara' was no less than a moment of high adrenaline rush. The moment of launching India's first rocket and the satisfying faces of Dr. Sarabhai, Dr. Kalam, and Dr. Bhabha made my eyes moist in pride and joy as a countryman. Yes...There was a bit of melodrama. But it was necessary and certainly not stretched at all. Because it is not only about science but also about the friendship, romance, commitment, and overall lives of both of them.

Coming to the technicalities, I can say that "Kal Ho Naa Ho" and "D-Day" famed director Nikkhil Advani gave his best so far. He has found a team that really worked hard in research to make the script with so much information and almost negligible error. Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Raza Mehdi, Arjun Radhakrishnan as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam did great. Ishwak Singh sparked and literally looked perfect as Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Rajit Kapoor was not only looking, rather sounding like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru with unique voice modulation. Other actors and actresses were just fitting to their roles.

There should be a special paragraph for Jim Sarbh whenever anyone would discuss this series. I think he has immortalized the "Father of India's Nuclear Programme" on-screen forever. Jim sparked in every cameo and supporting role before but now he has delivered his best shot so far in a leading role as Dr. Bhabha. He was just outstanding and surely the heart of the show.

Editing could've been slightly better but that's alright. The background score and the cinematography were very appealing to the audience.

Overall, it is a fantastic experience not just as an Indian or a cinema/series fanatic, or a science admirer or a history lover but as a combined of all. Kudos to the entire cast and crew members of the series. Along with the Indian series like "Scam 1992", "The Family Man", "Panchayat" etc., it will be right up there at the top branch for sure with a "MUST WATCH" tag!

❤🙏😊

Sony LIV's Rocket Boys will take you into space technology for national development, which will inspire and motivate you with head-strong story of three genius who have played a pivotal role in creating history for India.

Rocket Boys takes you through the journey of events right from India's independence in 1947, launch of first nuclear program and space program which involved geniuses like Homi J Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and APJ Abdul Kalam who despite the struggle, different thinking, approach, political pressure and disagreement, creates history for India which made us proud with their achievements.

There are two things which can ignite the curiosity in you to watch the 8 episode web series drama - Abhay Pannu takes the director's seat along with the creator Nikkhil Advani to show interesting tale of how the Indian Space Program was orchestrated. After watching Rocket Boys, your thirst for a perfect captivating web series will be quenched thanks to the solid entertainment, powerful dialogues and electrifying performances that will keep you hooked till the last episode. A big clap to the team, including the writers (Abhay Koranne and Kausar Munir) for researching and taking us into the world of science during the 1940-1960 period by keeping it raw and real.

Rocket Boys is flavored with a brilliant background by Achint Thakkar (Scam 992) with magnificent cinematography by Harshvir Oberao, outstanding production design by Meghna Gandhi and splended art direction by Pradeep Nigam. On the flip side, the story of Indian space seemed bit long and stretched at some times as the web series also talks about the personal lives of the geniuses along which I felt misplaced and could have shortened by few episodes.

Rocket Boys boast of some of the finest performances in recent times. To start with first and the foremost are Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh who gave knockout performance as they deep-dives into the body language of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Arjun Radhakrishnan is simply superb as APJ Abdul Kalam who strikes a perfect balance in the beautiful story. Apart from these, Regina Cassandra, Saba Azad, Rajit Kapoor and Rajiv Kachroo were a solid support.

On the whole, Rocket Boys is nice, brave attempt with wonderful direction and hard-hitting performances. Good 3/5. Go for it.

This series is going to be a treat for those who love science or have been following india's developement in the field of science. You know very well what this series or rather, whom this series is based upon so let me jump to the positive points:-

1. Good detailing. The makers have done a pretty good amount of research for this series. There would be many terms or even organizations that todays gen may not be aware of like ATIRA or ISCOPAR etc and will force you to keenly google them up.

2. The performance by Jim Sarbh and Ishwak singh is top class. Many might question why Ishwak singh's Vikram doesnt age at all with time . The fact is Sarabhai really looked young even at later stages of his life. Jim Sarbh as Homi Bhaba is one step further. His charm and subtle humor that his character possesses is a treat to watch.

3. Brings out the feelings of Patriotism without patriotic dialogues or hyper-nationalism. Just their efforts into making a rocket or even the atomic research center is shown so well that when they finally achieve success, it automatically brings the sense of pride for your country in your heart.

4. Addition of 35 mm reels from the 1950s is another masterstroke. Good detailing has also gone into the sets making sure we are aware in which time we are.

5. A bit of dramatization has been done and i accept it. We see evil men going behind Homi trying to bring him down all these things may not be real and are commercialized (or who knows if it was real) but i honestly had no complains as it made the series more interesting to watch.

However, there are some negatives:-

1. It is ok to show the personal lives of the two scientists but for literally 5 episodes? Their love lives are given meaty screen space and that dissapointed me as the series could have focussed more on science rather than love. The love angle could have been chopped off a bit.

2. An illogical scene where Homi literally dives into a swimming pool reactor only to emerge absolutely dry.

3. The fact that towards the end , they didnt really focus on how Sarabhai made the rocket rather they focus more on Homi.

Overall , a must watch series. Definitely not for "Pushpa" audience so choose wisely and you wont be dissapointed. One thing you will realize that Homi was more like a "Netaji Shubash" while Sarabhai had more of a "Mahatma Gandhi" kind of mindet.