Rocket Boys 2 teaser: Jim Sarbh’s series now explores the original Pokhran nuclear test – all you need to know

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Jim Sarbh’s Rocket Boys 2 is back. Yes, he is back too. At least the recently released teaser hints at that. The clip shares that the new season of the super-successful Sony LIV show will explore the Pokhran nuclear test.

Remember Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam from Rocket Boys season 1? He had a brief but powerful appearance for a reason. Dr. Kalam is back with the idea of Pokhran nuclear test.

While Dr. Homi Bhabha died the last time around, this time the story is based after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai’s demise. Pokhran happened to be Dr. Kalam’s tribute to his mentor, Sarabhai.

See the teaser here:

Wondering how Dr. Homi Bhabha fits into the picture? Firstly, how doesn’t he? It is nuclear testing afterall. Anyway, Dr. Bhabha wanted to promote talents and so, he founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research back in 1944. Dr. Bhabha was already working on giving India its first nuclear power plant but unfortunately, he died in a plane crash on January 26, 1966.

Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Prime Minister of India in 1964 and he ordered Dr. Vikram Sarabhai to take over the programme. Co-incidentally, he died a few days before Dr. Homi Bhabha’s demise. Shastri was found dead on January 11, just 13 days before Dr. Bhabha’s plane crash. He died a day after signing a peace treaty to end the Indo-Pakistan war which was going on since 1965. Soon, Indira Gandhi took over as the Prime Minister.

Whether Gandhi’s most important phase – Emergency – will be explored in Rocket Boys 2, still remains uncertain. However, what will definitely be explored is the time when she sanctioned Smiling Buddha – the mission to create a ‘peaceful nuclear explosive.’

Almost a year after the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, Indira Gandhi gave permission to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to manufacture a nuclear device. The first nuclear test was led by Dr. Kalam on May 18, 1974 in Pokhran, Rajasthan, India.

The mission was immensely successful and it led to Pokhran II (Operation Shakti) in 1998. It was after Pokhran II that the then-Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared India as a full-fledged nuclear country.