Rocket Boys season 2 review: Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh's show gets denser and more conflicted this time around

Cast: Jim Sarbh, Ishwak Singh, Saba Azad, Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Director: Abhay Pannu

Language: Hindi and English

The most rousing aspect of Rocket Boys season one was the remarkable restraint it showed about the story of two of India’s greatest minds- Dr. Homi J Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, played with aplomb by Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh. The two geniuses never wanted to make history, they wanted to help the nation so it’s remembered in history. For them, their nation was always before them. Of course, season one had some unfinished business.

Comes season two, the year is 1964, 17 years after India’s independence; the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has passed away. The idea of turning the fortunes of India forever has expectedly come to a halt. The conflicts this time are far deeper and more complex. You have the goras as the inevitable villains, you have moments of tension and altercation between the protagonists, and you also have the Nuclear test thrown in.

To give credit where it’s absolutely due, cinematographer Harshvir Oberai creates a believable atmosphere and ambience of the the 60s. The biggest of budgets have faltered on celluloid in making both fictional and real world palpable, this show gets it right. What it also gets it right is humanising arguably two of Indian history’s most towering figures, making both the stalwarts fallible and flawed. However, the series has its share of (minor) flaws too.

Despite the fact that series is based on true events and the time period is over five decades ago, Rocket Boys season two feels familiar in its craft. The dialogues, the expectedly unexpected twists in the narrative, all arouse the feeling of been there done that. And yet, the reason why the series scores is because of its inherent niceness and earnestness, that the performances never feel theatrical.

The second season is far from perfect, but to cite the example of a conversation between Bhabha and Sarabhai, even if they don’t necessarily achieve what they set out to, they’ll keep trying. History was never made by being perfect anyway.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Rocket Boys season is now streaming on SonyLIV

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