Actor R Madhavan, last seen on screen in Tamil crime thriller Vikram Vedha, is gearing up to play the controversial ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was framed in an espionage case and was later acquitted. The film will be based on the ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan’s autobiography Ormakalude Brahmanapadam (In the Orbit of Memories) that was released in October 2017.

According to reports, Shah Rukh Khan and Suriya have landed cameo roles in the highly anticipated film, which will be released in four languages. While Shah Rukh will be seen essaying a cameo in the Hindi version of the film, Suriya is believed to have been signed for the Tamil version. In order to transform into the septuagenarian scientist, Madhavan sought the help of his Rang De Basanti co-star Aamir Khan.

The role required him to put on weight as he plays the character at different stages of his life, from the age of 27 to 75.  On being signed on for the project, Madhavan had said it’s going to be the most exciting film of his career.

Madhavan has put in a lot of efforts to get into the skin of the character he plays and has done research to ensure that he gets all the facts rights. The star will be co-directing the film along with the Kerala-based journalist turned director Prajesh Sen.

Anant Mahadevan was the initial choice to co-direct the film but he opted out paving way for Prajesh Sen. The film was originally supposed to be directed by Ananth Mahadevan, but it was recently revealed that Madhavan took over the reins from Mahadevan for reasons quite unknown. This project will mark Madhavan’s directorial debut. Meanwhile, Madhavan is expected to commence shooting for horror-thriller Silence with Anushka Shetty and Anjali from April in the US.

(Content provided by Digital Native)