A movie is about to be made on India’s successful lunar mission, Chandrayaan 3. The details about it are still awaited, however, multiple filmmakers have commenced working in the direction as soon as the mission became successful. Some producers have also come forward to register the titles of their respective ventures.
One of the first to announce a film on Chandrayaan 3 is Mission Mangal director Jagan Shakti. The film Mission Mangal was based on the life of scientists at ISRO who contributed to India’s first interplanetary expedition Mars Orbiter Mission.
He expressed his happiness over the historic success of the mission and stated that he wanted to capitalise on the opportunity. He announced that he would work on the project with the same team that was in his last film. However, he didn’t confirm whether Akshay Kumar would be a part of it or not.
He revealed, “We won’t miss the chance. I’m now giving it some thought. My older sister has provided some advice regarding the same. She is a senior scientist in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). I hope to make a film on Chandrayaan 3 with the team of Mission Mangal,” in an interview with Dainik Bhaskar.
He took help from many ISRO scientists during the making of Mission Mangal. The research team associated with the film and the scientists collaborated to hash out a lot of details. The writing team proclaimed that the information presented to the public in Hollywood space films like Interstellar and Gravity, in a similar manner, an attempt was undertaken to convey the facts to the audience in Mission Mangal.
The movie was made on a small budget of Rs 32 crores, just as Mangalyaan’s production cost was nominal at approximately $74 million. It was able to exhibit extensive visual effects at a meagre expense because the company that was employed for the objective was new in the film industry.
The Akshay Kumar starrer went on to collect more than 290 crores at the box office and turned out to be a major hit.
Notably, several producers and production houses have applied to register the film’s name at the Mumbai offices of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA), Producers Guild of India and Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC). Although, only a select few would be allowed to use it as the subject of a movie.
Anil Nagrath of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) said, “We have been getting requests for titles based on Chandrayaan 3 for the last four weeks. We have received 12-15 title requests, including Chandrayan Ki Yatra. Excitement toh hai. Many people didn’t even wait for the event to happen, at least the ones who were smart were quick to make a move.”
Suresh Amin of the Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC) said that several titles have been booked like Mission Chandrayaan, Chandrayaan 3, Chand ki Khoj Mein and Hindustan Ki Shaan Chandrayaan. He added that it will take almost 15 days for these titles to get approved. Some other proposed titles include Chandrayaan-3: The Moon Mission, Vikram Lander, Chandrayaan-3: The New Chapter, Bharat Chand Par, etc.
Chandrayaan 3 is the third Indian lunar exploration mission under ISRO’s Chandrayaan programme. It consists of a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan, similar to those of the Chandrayaan 2 mission. The propulsion module carried the lander and rover configuration to lunar orbit in preparation for a powered descent by the lander.
Chandrayaan 3 was launched on 14 July 2023. The lander and rover landed at the lunar south pole region on 23 August at 18:02 IST and made India the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and the fourth country to soft-land on the moon.
