‘Game of Thrones’ actor Ron Donachie roped in for Madhavan’s ‘Rocketry’

Actor Madhavan’s debut directorial Rocketry: The Nambi Effect just got bigger with Game of Thrones actor Ron Donachie and Downtown Abbey fame Phyllis Logan roped in for important roles.

Confirming this, Maddy posted on Instagram, “#Rocketrythefilm. With the incredible Ron Donachie (Sir Roderick Cassel from #GOT) and the Charming Phyllis Logan (Mrs Hughes from Downtown Abby). What a wealth of experience and honor it has been to have you part of this film. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. #actormaddy @actormaddy@rmadhavan @prajeshsen @vijaymoolantalkies.” (sic)

The filmmakers are yet to reveal the roles the two foreign actors will essay.

In Game of Thrones, Ron Donachie played Sir Rodrik Cassel, who served as the master-at-arms of Winterfell, where he trained the Stark family children. In the show, he is beheaded by Theon Greyjoy. Phyllis Logan starred as Mrs Hughes, the stoic but ethical head housekeeper in the British historical period drama television series Downtown Abbey.

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is written, produced and directed by Madhavan. Simran plays the female lead in this flick, which is shot simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil and English. The technical crew of the film includes Sam CS for music, Gopi Amarnath for cinematography and Sathish Surya for editing. The star cast also includes Bijou Thaangjam, Shahrukh Khan in a cameo appearance in the Hindi and English versions, and Surya in a cameo appearance in the Tamil version.

Nambi Narayanan was a rocket scientist working at ISRO. He was accused of espionage in 1994 and was arrested by the CBI. However, in 1998 it was proved that he was innocent, following which the Kerala government settled the case with a compensation of Rs 50 lakh. The film will be based on Nambi Narayanan’s autobiography Ormakalude Brahmanapadam (In the Orbit of Memories) that was released in October 2017.

As he is playing a real-life character in the film, Madhavan transformed himself to ensure that he looks the part. He grew long locks of hair and a beard. He also put on weight as he plays the character at different stages of his life, from the age of 27 to 75.  In a video, he had revealed how it took 14 hours to transform himself into the character of Nambi Narayanan.

(Content provided by Digital Native)