R Madhavan Appointed As FTII President Days After Rocketry Won National Award For Best Film

Actor R Madhavan, whose film Rocketry recently earned a National Award, has been appointed as the President of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Chairman of its governing council. R Madhavan, following the National Award-winning success of his directorial debut, ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect,’ has been designated as the President of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

Union Minister Anurag Thakur announced the news on microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) and sent across his best wishes to actor-director.

“Heartiest congratulations to @ActorMadhavan ji on being nominated as President of @FTIIOfficial and Chairman of the governing council.I’m sure that your vast experience & strong ethics will enrich this institute, bring positive changes, & take it to a higher level. My best wishes to you (sic),” Thakur wrote.

The actor expressed his gratitude on social media for being nominated as the President of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Madhavan posted, “Thank you so much for the honor and kind wishes @ianuragthakur Ji. I will do my utmost to meet all the expectations.”

A day after the historic success of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, R Madhavan’s directorial debut, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, a biographical drama revolving around the life of former ISRO scientist S. Nambi Narayanan, clinched the Best Feature Film at the 69th National Film Awards. The film, which also stars Madhavan in the lead role, had earlier received a ten-minute standing ovation at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, where the actor-director premiered it to a select audience.

Speaking to News18 Showsha exclusively after the win, R Madhavan said, “On Wednesday, after the victory of Chandrayaan-3, I could not think I could get any happier but on Thursday, with the big win for Rocketry and a childlike-glee on Nambi Narayanan sir’s face, it has been the ultimate reward! Five years of agony, pain, blood and sweat vanished in that one second when we called Nambi Sir and saw his face this morning. I’m very grateful to the audience, the jury and to the public for the kind of recognition we have got. It urges me to do even better than I can. I’m flattered, touched and quite speechless.”