Deserve to be trolled: R Madhavan on Panchang remark on ISRO’s Mars mission

After saying that the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) successful rocket launch into space for the Mars mission was because of using Panchangam (the Hindu calendar) and being trolled for it on social media, actor R Madhavan said on Sunday that he deserves the trolling.

“I deserve this for calling the Almanac the 'Panchang' in Tamil. Very ignorant of me. Though this cannot take away from the fact that what was achieved with just 2 engines by us in the Mars Mission. A record by itself. Nambi Narayanan's Vikas engine is a rockstar,” he shared an article of him getting trolled on Twitter and posted his tweet.

Recently, in a video, Madhavan was heard saying, “Indian rockets did not have the three engines (solid, liquid and cryogenic) that helps western rockets propel themselves into Mars' orbit. Since India lacked this... used information in the Panchangam.”

“It has the celestial map with all information on various planets, gravitation pulls, sun's flares deflection etc., all calculated perfectly 1000s of years ago and hence the micro-second the launch was calculated using this info. The rocket was launched, it went around the earth, moon and Jupiter's moon and ricochet like a play thing and put into Mar's orbit," he added.

“He found out everything while directing a single movie?" tweeted a user. Another person posted, "Science is not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s ok not to know Science." "Madhavan has officially become a WhatsApp uncle from a chocolate boy," said another user.

Madhavan will be seen next in Rocketry: The Nambi Effect. He has written, produced and acted in the film which is a biopic on Nambi Narayanan, a former scientist and aerospace engineer of the ISRO, who was falsely accused of espionage. The film will release on July 1 in theatres worldwide.