Madhavan to play lead role in ‘Miracle Man’ G.D. Naidu’s biopic 

A conceptual poster for the film was released on Thursday. 

Promising to be a venture to inspire youth, a biopic based on the life of Gopalsamy Doraisamy Naidu — dubbed ‘Edison of India’ — was announced on Thursday. R. Madhavan will play the role of G.D. Naidu, also known as the ‘Miracle Man’.

The G.D. Naidu Charities signed an agreement with Media One Global Entertainment Limited on Wednesday and released a conceptual poster on Thursday. G.D. Rajkumar, the grandson of Mr. Naidu and the son of GD Naidu Charities Managing Trustee, G.D. Gopal, told The Hindu that the movie’s aim was to inspire the youth towards science and innovation. “My grandfather had recorded many details about his life and innovations, which has been put up in the library in the memorial gallery. The movie is an extension of this. We hope to inspire the youth of today towards science and innovations…”

Mr. Rajkumar recalled that his grandfather started his journey of inventions by building motors. “His inspiration and the process will be shown [in the movie]. He was a firm believer in improving the education system. The details of this will also be depicted,” he said.

According to the family, several production houses had approached them with the idea of a new biopic on the Indian inventor. “Many had approached us. But we were convinced with the approach by Media One,” Mr. Rajkumar added.

According to their website, the production house is associated with over 40 movies, including Cheeni Kum (2007), Bloodstone (1988), Chennai Express (2013), Jeans (1998), Ramji Londonwaley (2005) and Thambi (2006). Media One’s executive producer Aravind Kamalanathan told The Hindu that they had approached the trust during the COVID-19 pandemic and after a lot of convincing, the movie project was signed. “G.D. Naidu was a pioneer in many sectors such as automobile, Siddha medicine, agriculture and education…..I have worked with actor R. Madhavan in Rocketry and there couldn’t be a more appropriate actor for the lead role. He was our first choice. I am the Director of Photography for the movie,” said Mr. Kamalanathan.

This would be Mr. Madhavan’s next venture as a man of science, after his role as a scientist in Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.

It is to be noted that the earlier biopic GD Naidu–The Edison of India, produced by the Films Division of India, won the ‘Best Science & Technology Film Award’ in the 66th National Film Awards, 2019.

The GD Naidu Charities, to inculcate interest towards science among youth, has set up the GeeDee Car Museum, GD Science museum, Experimenta Science Centre, and STEM labs in Coimbatore. A memorial gallery to give an insight into the life, thoughts and achievements of Mr. Naidu (1893 to 1974) was opened in 2020.