Rocketry: The Nambi Effect

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, both starring and marking the directorial debut of R. Madhavan, is a biographical drama based on the real story of ISRO rocket scientist Nambi Narayanan. Narayanan was arrested in 1994 and accused of espionage for allegedly leaking cryogenic secrets to women from the Maldives, but was cleared of all charges by a CBI court in May 1996. In September 2018, India's Supreme Court awarded him 50 lakh rupees in compensation for the wrongful harassment and mental anguish he suffered, with the Kerala state government paying an additional 1.3 crore rupees; Narayanan later received the Padma Bhushan honor. Who it's for: anyone drawn to Indian biographical dramas about a real scientist wrongly disgraced by a false espionage charge and later cleared and compensated. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a light, easy success story, since the film confronts a real injustice that stretched over many years.