Yaanam is a non-feature film screened under the Indian Panaroma section at 53rd edition of International Film Festival at Goa. It is based on the autobiographical book “My Odyssey: Memoirs of the Man Behind the Mangalyaan Mission” by former space chairman Padma Bhushan Dr K. Radhakrishnan.
Yaanam movie portrays India’s dream project Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan). It is the 1st science documentary in Sanskrit language in the history of world cinema. It shows the capability and expertise of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the stellar contribution of space scientists and the importance of Sanskrit language showing how India overcame an arduous interplanetary journey for a monumental victory in the first attempt itself.
Producer of the film AV Anoop said “I am happy that I have presented films of all categories at Indian Panaroma section in IFFI. Last time I presented a feature film and a short film. This year I am presenting this non-feature film.”
Speaking about the experience of working with ISRO he said, ISRO is the pride of India. We wrote letters seeking permission from ISRO. Dr. S Somanath, present chairman happened to see the letters, and called us to say “Yes. We are doing it”.
We are lucky that ISRO accepted our request. It’s a very confidential and high security area. We have shot the movie in different locations 4 southern states – Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Kerala, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, ISRO Headquarters in Karnataka and the oldest observatory in Tamil Nadu.
We were permitted to shoot everywhere. They provided us all the materials they used during the launch, he added.We are getting invitations from science colleges including IITs. There are more than 500 colleges in India that teach Sanskrit now.
They all are inviting us. On being asked why did they decided to make the film only in Sanskrit, the producer replied “Sanskrit is the oldest language. Also, there is a misconception that this language belongs to only one religion, one community. We wanted to break this myth”.He concluded by saying “Almost every week, we are getting selected for screening in different International Film Festivals around the world.”