R Madhavan calls Rocketry protagonist Nambi Narayanan 'father of James Bond': 'Bond to baccha nikla inke saamne'

R Madhavan, who will be next seen in Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, recently praised the achievements of former scientist Nambi Narayanan on whom the biopic is based. Madhavan said that the achievements of James Bond, the fictional British Secret Service agent from the Bond film franchise, are also nothing when compared to what Nambi managed to do in real life. Also Read| R Madhavan says he deserves trolling over Panchang remark on Mars mission

Madhavan, who has written, directed, and produced Rocketry, said that he was surprised to find out about the achievements of Nambi Narayanan when he started working on the project. He noted that the former scientist and aerospace engineer of the ISRO, who was falsely accused of espionage, only spoke of the case against him and never mentioned his achievements. When the actor asked Nambi why he only talks about the case even after being proven innocent, he got an interesting answer.

Madhavan told Bollywood Hungama about his conversation with Nambi, "He said, 'you, I, the court know I am innocent, but go to Google and put my name,' and sure enough when you put his name it says ISRO spy case. I understood the angst that he had, but what shocked me more, was the fact that he was given the Padma Bhushan, and nobody knows why. When his achievements came to life, when I came to know what he did as the first Ivy League scientist from India in Princeton under Professor Louis D Croco, or the fact that he went to France with 52 scientists..."

The actor continued, "Or you know when he went to Russia when the USSR was breaking down and smuggled the engines that were supposed to come to India and they were not giving it to him because of American sanctions. He is the father of James Bond. James Bond to baccha nikla inke saamne (James Bond is a kid wh him). He was absolutely incredible."

Rocketry is scheduled for theatrical release worldwide on July 1. The film has been shot simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil, and English, and will be dubbed in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada languages. This is R Madhavan's first film as a director.