Rocket Boys Web Series Review: There are two boys. They are from a rich family. They study abroad. The Second World War breaks out. Both return home. They are saddened by the condition of the country. And, what do they do? Sometimes they teach others. Sometimes they study themselves. They fight among themselves. They fight a lot. They stop a bus in the middle of the road and express their love. If the one they love from their heart gets married to someone else, they reach there as a baraati. To increase textile production in the mills, they even fight with their mill-owner father. And, if their father is proud of a fast bowler, they try to make him happy by getting his autograph. Yes, these are two such boys, one of whom calls the then Prime Minister of the country as brother. And, the other one flies the country’s first rocket. The first season of the ‘Rocket Boys‘ web series is such a romantic, exciting and interesting story that your heart will dance after watching it. It will seem that you are watching the story of the era when love became a knowledge, not of the era when the map of the world was changing.
When the discussion of Sony Liv’s web series ‘Rocket Boys’ started, it seemed that this would also be the story of a rocket scientist. The name is also not very attractive. But, after watching the first episode of this series, I fell in love with these two boys. And, every episode after this kept adding layer by layer of affection to this love. And that is because this is not just the story of making rockets or atomic reactors. This is the story of India becoming India. Of that India which was never threatened by external forces but only by the traitors hidden within itself. The story begins with Homi Jahangir Bhabha’s proposal to make an atom bomb during the 1962 India-China war and then goes back 22 years and picks up the thread of the story from there where it goes from the mention of Jinnah to Sita of Ramcharit Manas. Who would believe that the foundation of a few national heritage scientific institutions that changed the face of the country was laid by collecting donations. The series tells very simply that the fight never ends. The fight goes on. Sometimes against the enemy standing in front of us. Sometimes against ourselves.
These two boys are the whole of India in themselves. They know the identity of a human being. They respect ability. And a talented person can be a Gujarati, Madrasi, Parsi, Kannada speaking or anyone else. The first boy is a senior one. Homi Jahangir Bhabha. Yes, the one after whom Bhabha Atomic Research Center is named. He plays violin very well. He makes better paintings with it. If he feels like it, he works day and night. And, if he gets bored, he goes away from the system he has created for months. The second one is younger but he is no less a master. He calls the group to collect funds to run the science institute. He falls in love with the heroine of the same group. He just cannot express what is in his heart. And, when he gets courage, he leaves in the middle of his PhD dissertation and leaves. He stops a bus in the middle of the road and expresses his love and brings her home as his bride without telling his parents.
There is a third boy in this story of two boys. This boy recites Shauk Bahraichi’s sher to the Muslims gathered after partition. He explains the true meaning of his Imam father’s work to his brother. And, he says that he does not want to fly a plane as a pilot, he wants to fly a rocket. In the resume prepared for the interview, he writes where he has been rejected so far. And, he also tells that even though he may not have scored good marks, he is the one who made the country’s first glider. This boy brings the word ‘jugaad’ into use for the first time among the parts that reached Thumba by bullock cart and bicycle. What happens when hydraulics fail at the time of rocket launch, you should understand it only by watching the series. But, after watching this series, one should also understand that saying that nothing has happened in the country in the last 70 years is nothing but a story to deny the hard work of lakhs of boys like him.
The country whose name is India is the work of passion of thousands of such boys. Two such boys have also been helpful in making this series. The elder one is often the target of politics. Sometimes he is seen in a film party and sometimes he shows his friendship with a star. The father sits as the Chief Minister in the city which is the economic capital of the country, but the picture of the bricks that he has made with his brother in this series, which laid the foundation of the country, makes the identity of Thackeray attached to his name more prominent. The web series ‘Rocket Boys’ is also the story of Motilal Nehru’s son. The story of that boy who knows the value of one gram of uranium that can be obtained from a piece of stone. He understands that this much uranium can also produce the same amount of electricity by producing heat equivalent to burning two trucks of coal. And, he celebrates this discovery happily and the scientist also accompanies the boy on the piano in the party on the violin.
It is possible that the political thinking of the country may have changed in the last ten to fifteen years. But the foundation of India is still the same as laid by these boys. The shapes of the buildings built on these foundation stones will change, people will try to make them like themselves by painting them, but it is also certain that in the coming days, the web series ‘Rocket Boys’ will become a text book for those who want to know the history of the promotion of science in the country, just as Doordarshan’s serial ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ is still a text book for those preparing for competitions. Among the web series made in Hindi till date, the web series ‘Rocket Boys’ will be counted among the best series for years to come. It will not let your attention get distracted even for a minute from the first episode to the eighth episode, I guarantee this. Do binge watch it with your entire family this weekend. There is only one abuse in the last episode of the entire web series, if the makers mute that too, then there is nothing better than this on OTT for family entertainment.
The soul of the web series ‘Rocket Boys’ is its actors and its technical team. It will take a long time for Indian actors to match the acting performance set by Jim Sarbh as Homi Jahangir Bhabha and Ishwak Singh as Vikram Sarabhai in this series. Both of them have kept the entire series captivated from start to finish, just like Jai Veeru. Both have performed so well that it can be understood just by watching them. Regina Cassandra has also done a heart-winning job in the role of Mrinalini Sarabhai. Her acting often reminds us of Renuka Shahane from the ‘Surbhi’ era. And, Saba Azad is playing the role of Peepsi. Who was in the news recently for being Hrithik Roshan’s mystery girl. And, a capable actor who is seen continuously in the series and whose acting gives a dark color to the series is Dibyendu Bhattacharya. Rajit Kapur’s performance as Nehru is superb and so is the performance by Namit Das and Arjun Radhakrishnan.
Apart from acting, Abhay Pannu is the captain of the team whose artistry has made the web series ‘Rocket Boys’ shine. Abhay Pannu, who was an assistant to Nikhil Advani, has hit a sixer on the first opportunity of his career. He has future prospects and if he keeps looking for such stories, he can be expected to do something great in cinema as well. In making the series, its photography director (cinematographer) Harshveer Oberoi’s role is no less than that of any main actor. While watching this series, which tells the story of India from 1940 to 1963, every scene takes you to that era and in this, the look designer of this series Shoma Goswami, costume designer Uma Biju, Biju Antony, production designer Meghna Gandhi, art director Pradeep Nigam, casting director Kavish Sinha also have a huge contribution.
The editing of the web series is also excellent. There is not a single loose episode and for this, Maahir Jhaveri should get full marks. The music of the series is a bit weak, although Subhash Sahu has worked hard on the sound design. Its writing team, which has decorated the series so neatly, is the backbone of this series. Director Abhay Pannu is supported by Kausar Munir, Abhijeet Parmar, Gundeep Kaur, Kashvi Nair, Ranjit M Tiwari and Shiv Singh. The story concept is by Abhay Korane.
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