Farhan Akhtar on board to spearhead Bollywood’s mission into space
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 30, 2020)

The biopic of Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma has been in the news for two years now. Titled Saare Jahan Se Achha, it marks ad-filmmaker Mahesh Mathai’s return to the big screen after Bhopal Express (2000), and traces the journey of Sharma, a former Indian Air Force pilot, to the moon. The astronaut flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, becoming the first Indian citizen to travel in space.

The celluloid mission was announced in 2018 with Aamir Khan in the titular role, but the actor dropped out subsequently. The film’s writer, Anjum Rajabali, had revealed at a public event, that it was because of his dream project, Mahabharat.

Soon after, the makers approached another Khan, Shah Rukh, who, reportedly, had even started prep while Mahesh and his team went scouting locations in Russia, seeking permission to shoot at real space stations there. SRK was to kick off the shoot in February 2019. However, shocked by the debacle of Zero, the actor, reportedly, wasn’t too keen to do another film that took him into space.

Ever since, there have been speculations in plenty about the casting. Rumours were rife that the makers had gone to Salman Khan with the script in late 2019, but the discussion fell through. The names of Vicky Kaushal and Ranbir Kapoor were also floating around last year. Now, Mirror has learnt that Mahesh finally has another actor on board, Farhan Akhtar.

“After a lot of brainstorming, the team zeroed in on Farhan as he played athlete Milkha Singh to perfection in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Talks are on and after finishing his current commitments, he is expected to jump into the prep, which includes body transformation, physical training and understanding the nuances of an astronaut,” revealed a source close to the development, adding that the two men have a striking resemblance in terms of height and body structure too. “The script with the dialogue draft is locked. With the lead actor on board now, they will proceed towards getting together an ensemble cast and then work on the timeline of the shoot.”

The film chronicles the journey with emotional undertones of the death of Sharma’s daughter. It will also showcase the training sessions he went through as part of the mission which was a joint program between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos Space Program.

Sharma spent 7 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes in outer space with two other Soviet cosmonauts. The crew held a joint television news conference with officials in Moscow and India’s then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. When Mrs Gandhi asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, he replied, “Saare jahaan se acchha” which explains the title. The team was initially contemplating Salute before unanimously agreeing that Saare Jahaan Se Acchha was a better choice.

On his return, Sharma was conferred the Hero of the Soviet Union, the only Indian to be conferred this title. He also bagged India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra, along with the two Soviet cosmonaut.