The series ‘Rocket Boys’ released on Sony Liv is getting a lot of love from the audience. This is the story of two great scientists of the country, who think for the country all the time. And these two scientists were Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha. Every single artist in the series has put life into his character. A lot of hard work has been done on each and every scene of the series. One character appears at the beginning of the series and remains till the end, that of Homi Bhabha’s rival Raza Mehdi. Divyendu Bhattacharya has played this character.
Was the character coined to give a Hindu Muslim angle?
There is a controversy regarding the character of Raza Mehdi in this series because, in reality, there is no scientist of this name in the country. It is alleged that through this character ‘Rocket Boys’, an attempt has been made to forcefully give a Hindu Muslim angle. According to the series, Raza is a Shia Muslim who once supported the Muslim League. His parents were tortured in the name of religion. Although it has nothing to do with reality, the character Raza Mehdi you see and hear here is actually similar to the scientist Meghnad Saha. Although he was not a Muslim but a Hindu.
Who was Meghnad Saha
Meghnad Saha was the great scientist and physicist of the country. He built the cyclotron. It was he who gave the Saha equation which is quite famous. This equation explains the physical and chemical state of stars. One of the discoveries of Meghnad Saha is the ionization formula. This formula gives astronomers information about the internal temperature and pressure of the Sun and other stars. He founded the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Calcutta in 1950. Saha was also the spokesperson at the University College of Science, Calcutta. Saha was in favor of positive use of nuclear power.
There were differences between Saha and BhabhaBefore independence, there were differences between Bhabha and Saha regarding the basic aspects of India’s development. Due to this, the producers and director Abhay Pannu probably created the character of Raja Mehdi. Speaking on this controversy, Abhay Pannu in an interview said that he has taken ‘Creative Liberty’. But should a character be created within this freedom which was not there? This is a big question. Critics believe that either you show the whole history or the whole imagination. Otherwise the viewer is confused as to which one he believes to be true and which one is not?
Divyendu Bhattacharya has done a great job
Good work by Divyendu Bhattacharya. Divyendu has been consistently impressing with his characters in each of his projects and hence he has become the wish of good directors. Seeing the way the character of Prime Minister Pt Nehru, who is called the architect of independent India, has been carved in Rocket Boys, it seems that there is an attempt to make him look weak intentionally. However, despite these shortcomings, you will be able to connect easily with this series made with determination.