Rocket Boys is a Hindi biographical drama that follows the intertwined journeys of physicist Dr. Homi J. Bhabha and scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai during the formative decades of independent India’s scientific programme. The series moves through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, showing how the two men pursue different but connected ambitions in nuclear science and space research while dealing with political change, institutional resistance and personal relationships.
Jim Sarbh plays Homi Bhabha and Ishwak Singh plays Vikram Sarabhai, with Regina Cassandra as Mrinalini Sarabhai, Saba Azad as Parvana ‘Pipsy’ Irani and Arjun Radhakrishnan as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Created by Nikkhil Advani and directed by Abhay Pannu, Rocket Boys premiered on SonyLIV on February 4, 2022. The series has two seasons and 16 episodes in total, with the second season released on March 16, 2023.
Rocket Boys Web Series Cast
Jim Sarbh as Dr. Homi J. Bhabha
Jim Sarbh plays Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the physicist who becomes one of the central architects of India’s atomic-energy programme. The series presents Homi as brilliant, confident and impatient with limits placed on scientific ambition. He wants India to develop institutions capable of competing with the world’s leading scientific powers and is willing to engage directly with politicians, administrators and international figures to make that possible. His friendship, disagreements and eventual reconciliation with Vikram Sarabhai form the emotional backbone of the series.
Ishwak Singh as Dr. Vikram Sarabhai
Ishwak Singh plays Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, whose work becomes closely associated with the growth of India’s space programme. Vikram is shown as thoughtful, idealistic and deeply interested in using science for national development. His approach is often more cautious than Homi’s, especially on questions involving nuclear weapons and political power. The series also spends significant time on his marriage to Mrinalini and the difficulty of balancing scientific work, public responsibility and family life.
Regina Cassandra as Mrinalini Sarabhai
Regina Cassandra plays Mrinalini Sarabhai, the classical dancer and wife of Vikram Sarabhai. Rather than treating her only as the scientist’s spouse, the series gives Mrinalini her own artistic ambitions and professional identity. Her relationship with Vikram is affectionate but complicated by long absences, emotional distance and the demands of his scientific career. Her storyline adds a personal dimension to the larger historical narrative.
Saba Azad as Parvana ‘Pipsy’ Irani
Saba Azad plays Parvana Irani, known as Pipsy, a close companion of Homi Bhabha in the series. Pipsy is a dramatized character used to explore Homi’s private life, social world and emotional choices outside the laboratory and political sphere. Her conversations with Homi often provide a counterpoint to his relentless focus on work and national ambition.
Arjun Radhakrishnan as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Arjun Radhakrishnan appears as a young A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. The character becomes increasingly important as the story moves toward India’s early rocket work and later strategic programmes. Kalam is presented as a younger scientist learning within an expanding scientific establishment while contributing to the country’s aerospace ambitions.
Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Raza Mehdi
Dibyendu Bhattacharya plays Raza Mehdi, a fictional scientist created for the drama. Raza is used as a rival and ideological counterpoint within the scientific establishment, particularly in the first season. His disagreements with Homi add conflict to the institutional story. Because Raza Mehdi is a fictional character rather than a direct portrayal of a historical scientist, his storyline should be understood as part of the show’s dramatization.
Rajit Kapur as Jawaharlal Nehru
Rajit Kapur plays Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. In the series, Nehru becomes an important political supporter of scientific institution-building and interacts closely with Bhabha and Sarabhai as they seek government backing for major research programmes. His presence connects the scientists’ personal ambitions with the larger project of building institutions in a newly independent country.
Namit Das as Prosenjit Dey
Namit Das plays Prosenjit Dey, another dramatized character used within the political and intelligence side of the narrative. His actions introduce suspicion, surveillance and strategic conflict around Homi’s nuclear ambitions. The character helps the series operate partly as a historical thriller rather than only as a conventional biographical drama.
Charu Shankar as Indira Gandhi
Charu Shankar plays Indira Gandhi. Her role becomes more prominent as the series moves beyond the Nehru era into a period of political transition, war and growing pressure on India’s strategic programmes. Season 2 places her leadership alongside developments in nuclear and space research, linking political decisions with the scientists’ long-term plans.
Harssh A. Singh as Morarji Desai
Harssh A. Singh appears as Morarji Desai in the second season. His character represents a different political approach to India’s nuclear ambitions and becomes part of the debate over how far the country should go in developing strategic capability.
Mark Bennington as Robert Crowley
Mark Bennington plays Robert Crowley, a character associated with the foreign-intelligence thread running through the series. This storyline adds espionage and geopolitical tension to the drama and is one of the areas where Rocket Boys takes substantial creative liberties for storytelling.
Other notable cast members include:
- M. Karthik Srinivasan as C. V. Raman
- C. Shankar as Vishwesh Mathur
- Neha Chauhan as Kamla Chowdhry
- Rajiv Kachroo as J. R. D. Tata
- Darius Shroff as Jehangir Bhabha
- Anahita Uberoi as Mehreen Bhabha
- Arjun Dwivedi as Lt. Col. Sabharwal
- Ed Robinson as Agent Miller
- Benedict Garrett as William Colby
- Swattee Thakur as Mallika Sarabhai
- Rahul Dev Shetty as Raja Ramanna
- Vijay Kasyap as Lal Bahadur Shastri
Rocket Boys Web Series Crew
Rocket Boys was created by Nikkhil Advani and directed by Abhay Pannu. Abhay Koranne developed the story concept, while Abhay Pannu handled the screenplay and shared dialogue writing with Kausar Munir. The two-season production was mounted by Roy Kapur Films and Emmay Entertainment, with Siddharth Roy Kapur, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani credited as producers.
- Creator: Nikkhil Advani
- Director: Abhay Pannu
- Story Concept: Abhay Koranne
- Screenplay: Abhay Pannu
- Dialogue: Abhay Pannu and Kausar Munir
- Additional Screenplay Credits: Gundeep Kaur, Kaashvi Nair, Abhijeet Singh Parmar and Ranjit Tewari across the series
- Producers: Siddharth Roy Kapur, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani
- Production Companies: Roy Kapur Films and Emmay Entertainment
- Director of Photography: Harshvir Oberai
- Editor: Maahir Zaveri
- Music and Background Score: Achint Thakkar
Rocket Boys Web Series Story
Rocket Boys begins by bringing Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai together during a period when India is still under British rule and the world is being reshaped by war. Both are gifted scientists, but their temperaments and priorities are different. Homi is drawn toward fundamental physics and nuclear research, while Vikram is increasingly interested in how science can be used for national development and, eventually, space research.
As their friendship develops, both men begin building institutions rather than limiting themselves to individual research. Homi works toward creating a strong atomic-energy programme and securing state support for large scientific projects. Vikram builds research organisations of his own and gradually moves toward the idea of a national space programme. The series places these efforts alongside India’s independence and the difficult task of building new national institutions.
The first season also explores the personal lives around the two scientists. Vikram’s marriage to dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai is tested by his work and emotional distance. Homi’s relationship with Pipsy gives the series a private side to a man otherwise shown constantly negotiating science and politics. Rivalries inside the scientific establishment, particularly the fictional Raza Mehdi storyline, add dramatic conflict.
By the end of Season 1, the story moves closer to India’s early achievements in atomic research and rocket launching. The friendship between Homi and Vikram is repeatedly challenged by differences in ideology and method, but both remain committed to strengthening India’s scientific capability.
Season 2 expands the scale of the narrative. India’s political leadership changes, regional wars increase pressure on national security and the nuclear question becomes more urgent. Homi pushes hard for strategic capability while Vikram continues to wrestle with the tension between peaceful scientific development and the demands of national security. A young A. P. J. Abdul Kalam becomes more important to the space and rocket storyline.
The second season eventually moves toward India’s first nuclear test, conducted at Pokhran in 1974 and code-named Smiling Buddha. The final episodes connect the work of different scientists and political leaders to that milestone. At the same time, the series continues its personal storylines and shows the cost of ambition, disagreement and loss.
Although Rocket Boys draws heavily from real people and major historical events, it is a dramatized series rather than a documentary. Some relationships, confrontations, intelligence plots and characters are fictional or substantially reworked. The broad historical setting is real, but viewers should not treat every conversation or incident shown on screen as a literal historical record.
How Many Episodes Are There in Rocket Boys?
Rocket Boys has two seasons and 16 episodes in total. Season 1 contains eight episodes, all released on February 4, 2022. Season 2 also contains eight episodes, all released on March 16, 2023.
Rocket Boys Season 1 Episodes
- Episode 1: War and Peace
- Episode 2: It’s Like Gravity
- Episode 3: The Greater Good
- Episode 4: A Tryst with Destiny
- Episode 5: The Outsider
- Episode 6: A Democratic Process
- Episode 7: We are at War
- Episode 8: A New Dawn
Rocket Boys Season 2 Episodes
- Episode 1: Lift Off
- Episode 2: Burden Of Proof
- Episode 3: A Lasting Legacy
- Episode 4: The Price Of War
- Episode 5: Behind Enemy Lines
- Episode 6: Power Over Peace
- Episode 7: The Last Guard
- Episode 8: Smiling Buddha
Rocket Boys OTT Platform and Release Date
Rocket Boys premiered on SonyLIV on February 4, 2022. The first season was released as a complete eight-episode batch. Season 2 followed on March 16, 2023, again with all eight episodes available together.
As of September 2026, SonyLIV continues to list Rocket Boys with two seasons. The platform currently offers the series in seven languages. Streaming availability and subscription conditions can change, so viewers should check the current SonyLIV catalogue before subscribing specifically for the show.
What Kind of Series Is Rocket Boys?
Rocket Boys is a biographical historical drama built around science, institution-building and the personal lives of people connected with India’s nuclear and space programmes. It combines scientific milestones with friendship, marriage, politics and national-security questions, so the series often plays like a period drama and political thriller as much as a conventional biography.
Its central strength is the parallel journey of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. The show presents them as friends who share a belief in India’s scientific future while disagreeing on important questions of method, priorities and national security. The inclusion of real figures such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and C. V. Raman gives the story a broad historical canvas, while fictional characters and dramatized events are used to create narrative tension.
