After Rocket Boys, Abhay Pannu hopes to tell a Punjabi story in Punjabi

Nonika Singh

HE sure is soaring high, hitting the right notes with his directorial debut Rocket Boys. As Abhay Pannu has just finished and is in the process (second season is very much on the anvil) of telling us the story of unarguably India’s two eminent scientists Homi J Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, yet another Punjabi emerges in the firmament of entertainment.

Jim Sarbh as Homi Bhabha

Hailing from Naushehra village in Amritsar, Abhay may have been born in Jaipur and spent more time in Delhi, Pune and now Mumbai, he is very much ‘rooted’ in Punjab. One day he hopes to tell the story of his soil.

But first things first, let’s look at the making of a mammoth show Rocket Boys? As he admits, “We have just touched the surface, may be shown only 10 per cent of what these celebrated scientists achieved,” was what to omit and what to retain the biggest challenge? Well, in terms of keeping the relevant information, he shares, “Picking up the events, the making of Apsara reactor, launch of the rocket and the 23 year time line in these scientists’ lives that we follow in the series wasn’t a tough call. Much of it is well documented apart from a brilliant spotify podcast by Harsha Bhogle on Homi Bhaba. There was enough information out there.”

Ishwak Singh as Vikram Sarabhai

We have just touched the surface, may be shown only 10 per cent of what these celebrated scientists achieved.

How to humanise the characters to present them as you and me, to see them as normal people who aspired for bigger things. We didn’t want these legends to be cardboard characters. Abhay Pannu

More onerous part was, “How to humanise these characters to present them as you and me, to see them as normal people who aspired for bigger things. We didn’t want these legends to be cardboard characters.” Considering that their stories were dramatic enough, why did he feel the need to invent fictional characters like Raza Mehdi? Well, reasons were two-fold. But before he moves there, he reveals the character of Pipsi is not unreal. “There was a woman in Homi Bhabha’s life and characters like Prosenjit Dey a spy masquerading as a journalist did exist. During my research I found out that there were many newspapers bankrolled by the CIA. Let us not forget, that was an era of spies and cold war was at its peak.”

Now coming to the imagined one, scientist Raza Mehdi, one reason was obvious; to add a dramatic punch to the story of two affluent men. But the more reassuring was he wanted to call out the growing Islamophobia that we are witnessing today.

Talking of phobias, in the political climate that we are living in, were they sticking their neck out by extolling the Nehruvian era? He smiles, “Yes, we were conscious of it, a little anxious too. But we are not talking of perfect people. We are not saying Nehru was great, only he made some great decisions, backed science and advancement but also messed up on India-China front. We are not taking any sides. Nobody is a hero or villain.”

In fact, it is this tightrope walk, uplifting yet not jingoistic, informative yet not too complex, which makes the series a force to reckon with. How did they achieve this tenuous balance? Being an engineer, he proclaims, “I write the scenes in a way that a ‘bad’ engineer could understand.”

Jokes apart, it was a conscious design, not to alienate the audiences yet nor treat them as dumbos. He elucidates, “I don’t need to explain the science. For the viewer, it is sufficient to know what will happen if we are able to harness the energy of cosmic rays. In short, instead of going into whys and how’s of scientific experiments, just make it relatable. And that’s how I wrote it.”

Writer, dialogue writer and director; was there too much on his plate? He laughs, “When the plate is empty, you only want more to be poured in.” Today, if he could press the rewind button, his critical eye would change many things, especially the parts and casting of British actors. Certainly, the success of the series hangs like a Damocles’ sword and today as he is working on the second season he is paying greater attention. Indeed, the second season will have more of science, more of APJ Abdul Kalam, more rocket launches, the conspiracy theory around Bhabha’s death and many more reasons for you to watch out for the second season. To his Punjabi brethren in chaste Punjabi, he lists out why they should be watching the first season in case they have missed out. “Punjab bore the brunt of India’s independence. It’s only right that they watch this story of birth of India.”

Rocket Boys might be heavy on dialogues in English in near future he promises to tell a Punjabi story in Punjabi. What it would be about he can’t reveal right now, except it will circle around a singer’s life.

Success, this barely 30-year-old might profess is short-lived, his innings have just begun… with a blast whose reverberations can be both felt and heard. By the way the sound that this quintessential Punjabi thrills to is of a tractor which he loves to ride in his farms back home in Punjab. Two weeks on his farms is also his idea of a perfect getaway and stressbuster.

Career graph

Rocket Boys came to Abhay Pannu, an engineer by education, as a birthday gift from noted filmmaker and Abhay’s mentor Nikhil Advani whom he had assisted in Mumbai Diaries 26/11. Since Advani is the creator of the show, his constant guidance (and not interference) was a blessing. Earlier, Pannu has worked as AD in Milap Milan Zaveri’s Marjaavan. And like all experiences, working in this pot-boiler too helped him learn many tricks of the trade.

Choices he made

Abhay studied to be an engineer but soon found himself watching films when he should have been studying for his exams. Realising that cinema was his passion, he moved to Mumbai and was lucky to find work with Nadira Babbar, Neeraj Pandey and Danish Aslam.