According to a group of former ISRO scientists, at least 90% of the facts cited in R Madhavan’s Rocketry: The Nambi Effect in relation to ISRO are untrue.
Several former ISRO scientists claim that the claims made by former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in the movie “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect” and through various media networks were false and amounted to defamation of the space agency.
LPSE Director Dr. A. E. Muthunayagam, Project Director Prof. E. V. S. Namboothiri, Deputy Director D. Sasikumaran, and other former ISRO scientists convened with the media on August 24 to “debunk” the claims stated in the movie.
Aeronautical engineer Nambi Narayanan, who is portrayed by actor R Madhavan in the film, is the subject of the biographical drama that he wrote, produced, and directed.
“Due to Nambi Narayanan’s defamation of ISRO and other scientists in the film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect and on television, we are compelled to inform the public of certain facts.
He is not the father of several enterprises, as he claims to be. Even A P J Abdul Kalam, who later rose to become president of India, was alleged to have been corrected by him in the film. Additionally incorrect “the ex-scientists said.
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They stated that they had asked S. Somanath, the current ISRO chairman, to provide a verdict about the false assertions made in the movie.
The researchers refuted Narayanan’s claim in the movie that the acquisition of cryogenic technology by India was delayed as a result of his arrest. They asserted that ISRO, under the leadership of E V S Namboothiri, began developing cryogenic technology in the 1980s.
They stated that “Narayanan was not having any affiliation with the initiative.” At least 90% of the ISRO-related topics described in the film, according to the group of former scientists, are untrue.
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“Additionally, we learned that Narayanan had stated in certain media channels that everything in the film was accurate. Even more so, several scientists have expressed worry that Narayanan is claiming credit for a lot of their accomplishments “they claimed.
Narayanan and the film’s creators did not immediately respond to the charges made by the former scientists. In 2018, the Supreme Court ordered a review of the Kerala police’s role in the ISRO espionage case, in which 76-year-old Narayanan was accused.
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The CBI found that the espionage case against Narayanan, who was detained in the case, was baseless after spending more than two months in custody.
In the 1994 espionage case that included the state, it was alleged that two scientists and four other people—including two Maldivian women—sold sensitive space programmes to other countries.
After the state police had finished their first investigation, which had turned up no proof of the alleged espionage, the CBI took up the matter.
A group of the Congress targeted the late K Karunakaran, the then-chief minister, over the controversy, and he finally resigned as a result.
The affair also had political implications. The Left took the tragedy as an opportunity to attack the previous Congress administration.