BTS video of Rocketry: The Nambi Effect gives a glimpse of how Madhavan transformed into Nambi Narayanan

Actor Madhavan is all set to make his directorial debut with Rocketry: The Nambi Effect. The film is slated to hit screens on July 1 in Tamil, Hindi and English. Ahead of the release, Madhavan has been travelling across the country, to promote the film. He plays the former aerospace scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely accused of espionage, covering his life from the age of 30 to 79. A BTS video released by the team gives a glimpse into Madhavan’s transformation into the scientist.

In the video, Madhavan is seen saying, "Transforming from Madhavan to Nambi Narayanan, not just in one age group, but from 30 years to a 79-year-old man, which anyone who sees the film, will understand why it is imperative that I look like him, especially in the older ages. The script has been written in a manner which requires me to look as close to the real Nambi sir. How the entire team planned the look from being a 29-year-old man to 79-year-old guy was rocket science. To maneuver the look between our schedule of 43 days was, I think, one of our greatest achievements. You will see in the film how the transition of the look is so seamless that you would not even realise how and when the look changed."

Talking about the most difficult part of his look, his teeth and hair, Madhavan says, " Right from getting the very difficult part of actually manipulating my original teeth to look like his, where I had to put braces and dangle up my teeth, and thankfully, get it back after one-and-half years and go back to the original shape, that itself was a challenge. Getting the hair rights, sitting on a chair for 18 hours to get the hair colour correct, for three days in a row, was challenging. Losing weight, putting on weight,all the challenges that I faced, trying to look like Nambi sir strangely did not feel difficult at all for me. People tell me, 'my god, how did you do it,' which comes back to the essence of how and why this film came about. Everyone involved in the film just looked at heading one step at a time, one day at a time and the prep and intent was decided three years in advance. To get the look spot on and the hardwork we put in, when I look back today and wonder how we managed it, it's just shocking.