‘Rocket Boys’ director Abhay Pannu: I want Gen Zs and millennials to know about Sarabhai and Bhabha

Abhay Pannu discusses his recent Sony Liv show, ‘Rocket Boys’, starring Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh as Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai

Two days before the release of his debut show, Rocket Boys, (it is now streaming on SonyLIV), I ask Abhay Pannu if he is excited or nervous.

“More tired,” he says, chuckling. He has been working almost until the last minute to make sure he has told the story of his show in the way he wanted. And, the story of his show is an extraordinary one : it narrates the lives of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai (played by Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh, respectively), two colossal figures of modern Indian science.

Bhabha and Sarabhai, despite their phenomenal achievements, have not been of great interest to India’s pop culture. Pannu, a science student, felt the need to tell their story. “Not specifically of Vikram Sarabhai’s and Homi Bhabha’s. But when I was in college, I wanted to tell the stories of many other people from that era. Like JRD Tata. These men were the true nation builders of the country. They sacrificed so much to ensure that we live the life we have today. I wanted to tell a story that is actually patriotic and not jingoistic.”