World’s first Science-Sanskrit film to depict ‘Mangalyaan’ saga

Don’t be amazed if you find tough space exploration theories and technical jargons relating to rocket science being used in Sanskrit, the ancient language of vedas and mantras, in a film.

A science documentary in the classical language, considered to be the first such initiative in the world cinema, will soon enthrall movie buffs with the success story of India’s historic ‘Mars Orbiter Mission’ (MOM) alias ‘Mangalyaan’.

National award-winning filmmaker Vinod Mankara, known for his efforts to revive Sanskrit, which is generally considered a dead language, is coming out with the innovative docu film. Titled “Yaanam”, the proposed 45-minute movie is based on “My Odyssey: Memoirs of the Man Behind the Mangalyaan Mission” penned by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan. Mankara said it would be a complete

Sanskrit docu-film by all means as the entire script and dialogues would be in the ancient language.

Shooting of the movie is expected to go on floors in February and the world-premier is planned in April next year. The director’s “Priyamanasam”, the third only Sanskrit feature film in the world, had won the national award for the best feature film in that language. It was also the opening movie in the feature section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in the year 2015.

“When “Yanam” is ready, it will be the first of its kind professional documentary film in Sanskrit in the world. Science and Sanskrit may sound like an odd combination, but I have my own reasons to club them,” he said. An ardent enthusiast of the classical language and Indian thoughts, Mankara said the country can boast of its achievements in space exploration as well as it’s Sanskrit legacy, which is regarded as mother of many languages.