Rocketry: R Madhavan reveals the amount Shah Rukh Khan and Suriya charged for their cameos

Two of the country's biggest stars - actors Shah Rukh Khan and Suriya will be seen playing cameo roles in R Madhavan's directorial debut 'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.' R Madhavan was in the capital city to promote his new film and spoke about the enormous support that his film has got from the two actors, Priyanka Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan.

Turns out both Shah Rukh Khan and Suriya did not charge a penny to feature in the film which has Madhavan playing ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan.

"Be it Suriya or (Shah Rukh) Khan Sahab, none of them charge any fee for the film. They didn't even charge anything for the caravans, costumes, and assistants. Suriya flew out to shoot in Mumbai along with his crew on his own money. He didn't even charge for the flights or for the dialogue writer who translated his lines in Tamil.
"There are a lot of good people in the film industry. But, I'm from outside. People have helped me a lot. Just on my request Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan) or Priyanka Chopra post a tweet (to support the film). I'm grateful for their love and respect towards me," Madhavan told reporters at the press conference of the movie in New Delhi.

Madhavan said he had discussed the idea of the film with Shah Rukh when they were working on 'Zero' (2018), in which he had an extended guest appearance.

"Even when I attended his birthday party, he remembered and said 'Maddy, I want to do a role in your film. Just make me pass through the background.' I thanked him for his kind words and he said, 'No, no. I'm serious'," he recalled.

Two days later, when Madhavan's wife Sarita asked him to thank Shah Rukh for his gesture, the actor said he dropped a message to the star's manager asking her to convey his gratitude.

"Soon, his manager called me and said, 'Khan sahab is asking when do you want the dates?' I said I don't want to build castles in the air. But he was very serious. Then, I said there is no background role for him, there was an important part," he added.

While Shah Rukh stars as himself in the Hindi and English versions of the film, Suriya stars as himself in the Tamil take.

Calling 'Rocketry' the "story of a superhero" told through a commercial film, Madhavan said he hopes more films are made celebrating the success stories of scientists, engineers and IT specialists.

'Rocketry' premiered in Marche du Film section of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in France and Madhavan said he hoped he made the country proud at an international level.