Sahitya Akademi on Thursday announced a documentary on renowned Indian astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar, reported Hindustan Times. The announcement was made to mark the Padma Vibhushan awardee’s 80th birthday.
Titled Vaidyanyanik Saraswat, the documentary is being directed by film historian and professor Anil Zankar, who told told Hindustan Times that the film will explore Narlikar’s works through interviews and discussions. “I should be ready with a cut for submission to the Akademi by end of August,” Zankar said.
An acclaimed cosmologist, Narlikar won a Padma Bhushan in 1965 and a Padma Vibhushan in 2004. Also a writer, Narlikar won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014 for his Marathi autobiography Chaar Nagarantale Maze Vishwa. He is founder-director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune and a founding member of the World Cultural Council, a body led by 124 eminent scientists and researchers from across the globe.
The National Film Archive of India also marked the physicist’s birthday on Thursday by announcing that it will add Narlikar’s home movies to its collection.
The set of 41 films include Narlikar’s family videos, memorable moments, his work, and visuals of Professor Fred Hoyle, with whom Narlikar worked on cosmology and astrophysics at Cambridge and developed the Hoyle–Narlikar theory. The collection, in 8 mm and Super 8 mm film format, will clock four hours, according to the NFAI press note.