After a brief drizzle, a gust of wind parted the clouds, spilling an appropriate amount of sunlight over the glimmering tracks at Kari Motor Speedway Racetrack in Coimbatore, the venue for the grand trailer launch of GDN on the fourth of July. The crowd gently flocked towards the edge of the infield while the red carpet convoy rolled into the track. The cast and crew, including director Krishnakumar Ramakumar, actors Sathyaraj, Jayaram, Priyamani, Aditi Balan, Karunakaran, Vijay Yesudas, Kanika, and Sheela Rajkumar, arrived in various vintage automobiles, including the GD Naidu bus, a classic Studebaker, an Oldsmobile Dynamic 60, a vintage Hispano-Suiza, and a Mercedes-Benz 170S, among others. Sathyaraj and Priyamani drove a Ford Quadricycle 1896 while the lead pair, Madhavan and Dushara Vijayan, rode the Benz Motorwagen 1886.

Madhavan, who plays maverick inventor and industrial pioneer GD Naidu in his biopic GDN, set the tone as he opened the speech, “GD Naidu’s contributions extend to many fields, from electrical, agricultural, to mechanical engineering, but today we celebrate his love for automobile engineering.” The track also featured modern supercars from Porsche, BMW, Audi, Mustang, Lamborghini, and more. Select media and the general public were taken for a pulsating spin around the tracks with professional racers on the wheel. Actor Madhavan himself answered questions about the film, while driving the interviewers around the circuit in a supercar. As the sun went down and enough rubber was burnt, the crowd reorganised around a makeshift screen on the side of a truck, and the trailer for GDN was shown, as it premiered simultaneously on the internet.

The event was also attended by the famous aerospace scientist Nambi Narayanan, whose biopic, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022), was headlined by Madhavan. Also present was GD Rajkumar, the grandson of GD Naidu. Speaking to the crowd after the trailer, Madhavan said, “GD Naidu was more than just an innovator; he was a genius, an extraordinary achiever, and a patriot. Not just Tamil Nadu, I wanted the entire country to know about his achievements; that was the primary motivation behind doing this film.” The actor added that he was saddened by how little the general public knows about the life and achievements of GD Naidu, the man who is hailed as the ‘Edison of India.’ Dushara Vijayan, who plays GD Naidu’s wife in the film, revealed that she learned about the iconic innovator during field trips to the Ge Dee Museum in school. “I didn’t know then my life would come full circle years later. I guess my research for the film started decades ago,” quipped the actor, before adding, “We all know about his incredible achievements and his larger-than-life personality, but GDN will show you the human behind the innovations.” Speaking about the inspiration to do a film on GD Naidu, Director Krishnakumar Ramakumar said, “I read about him in a book I found at the annual book fair. I couldn’t believe how eventful, traumatic, and full of surprises his life was. I thought to myself, ‘If you can’t even make a film out of his life, then what’s the point of being in the film industry?’ Thankfully, the right people said yes, and the project moved forward.”

Produced by Varghese Moolan Pictures and Tricolour Films (who also made Rocketry: The Nambi Effect), GDN has cinematography by Aravind Kamalanathan, editing by Bijith Bala, and music by Govind Vasantha. The makers are yet to reveal a release date for the film.