Rocket Boys, now streaming on SonyLiv, is a fabulous and inspiring web series with absolute superlative performances. Yet it is not the perfect web series – SonyLiv’s Scam1992 is my idea of a perfect web series. The imperfection is mainly due to a disjointed storyline, often and suddenly leaping timelines (as a result, the characters keep appearing and vanishing with a lot of inconsistency) and it’s mid 1900s low light scenes, which is a strain on the eye. The series should have stressed on continuity and been made of longer duration than just eight episodes. Hence Rocket Boys ultimately is a collection of brilliant scenes where Jim Sarbh, Ishwak Singh and Arjun Radhakrishnan do their roles so well that you fall in awe of their real to life avatars – scientists Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and APJ Abdul Kalam.
Jim Rocks
While on a boys trip to Jaipur in early 2021, I had a chance encounter with Jim Sarbh and all of us loved his gentlemanly and suave behaviour. In that short ‘selfie’ moment, we all praised his acting skills in unison but at the same time demanded more of him on screen. Jim as Homi Bhabha dominates about half the screen time in Rocket Boys and is par excellence. His mannerisms, his belief, his confidence amidst all non believers, his crystal clear vision forms an integral part of the story. Equally impressive is his co-scientist played by Ishwak Singh, their friendship and their flaws. This is not just a story of perfectly intelligent, visionary scientists. It is a story of men (and women) with deep rooted belief, out of the box thinking, go getters, yet flawed and vulnerable. Both of them got plum job invitations from leading scientific institutes overseas to ply their trade – had they followed that route they could have been godfathers of a NASA – but both believed in changing their motherland, the soil they grew upon and the water they drank. In a way, Rocket Boys tries to break the prevalent populist sentiment in India that migrating overseas is the ultimate measure of success.
Playing to the galleries
The series has come under controversy for one major flaw that can be spotted by viewers who have an idea of the journey of the scientists. Apparently a Dalit scientist from Bengal by the name Meghnad Saha, who was just as brilliant and core part of change in that era, but never got his due, is also not given his due in Rocket Boys. Worse, that person has been fictionally characterised as a Muslim, who lost his parents in Shia – Sunni clashes, is jealous of Homi Bhabha, takes on Nehru in the parliament to down Bhabha, his institute is funded by Jinnah’s Muslim League and he himself is approached by the CIA to work against the country. So Meghnad Saha being made Mehdi Raza (played brilliantly by Dibyendu Bhattacharya) is somewhat playing to the galleries of modern times with fictional twists and unfair on the original scientist. So too are frequent references to Atmanirbhar Bharat & Make in India. So too is the caricature mannerisms they make of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, indecisive and clueless at times, played well by Rajit Kapur. This series surely was made to appease the current sentiment and is opposite of the sentiment that Prime Video’s Paatal Lok created. Too poor two extremes.
Must Watch
All in all, Rocket Boys is a must watch, despite the flaws. It’s opening credits has music at par with Scam1992’s mind boggling music. The series underlines the quality content that Sony Liv churns out time to time and makes them superior to all other OTT platforms. And despite the disjointed screenplay Rocket Boys is an awesome collection of brilliant scenes. I just wish they had made it over 13-20 episodes and given more screen time to the growth of each of the scientists. Watch it for the performances and to derive inspiration.
While watching this series of eccentric men, I wished for the day when visionaries and forwarded thinking people like Homi, Vikram, Meghnad & Kalam would be our leaders and rule the country from the parliament. When that happens, India will be a leading superpower in max 25 years!
Rating 4/5
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Avijit Das Patnaik 