Isro wish for 'Mission Mangal,' Twitterati not happy

Aiming for the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set for Monday’s Chandrayaan-2 launch. But did it mistime a tweet wishing Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar all the best for his film ‘Mission Mangal’ based on Mangalyaan? At least, the Twitterati thought so.

Late Friday night, Isro’s official Twitter handle had some good words for Kumar: “As #ISRO prepares for landmark launch of #Chandrayaan2, #TeamISRO wishes @akshaykumar all the best for #MissionMangal and all his future endeavour.”

But this was trigger enough for Twitter trolls to pounce on the space agency’s discretion. One tweet went this way: “Why is the social media handle of the serious national public institution, that too a space research organisation, getting involved in the promotion of a Bollywood movie?? this is so unprofessional.”

Mission Mangal’s second trailer had been released on July 18. Focussed on Isro’s Mars Orbiter Mission, the 2 minute 52 second teaser offers a glimpse into how Isro scientists from multiple backgrounds fight all odds to make the Mars Mission, Mangalyaan, a success. But for Akshay Kumar, Isro’s wish was a clear invitation to respond in kind: The Canada-based actor tweeted back: “Thank you so much and wishing best of luck once again to #TeamISRO for #Chandrayaan2.”

The tweet exchange did not go so well with science purists. One of them, going by the handle Kaumodaki, was all frankness: “That movie trailer depicted ISRO in utterly rubbish way, far from actual ISRO work culture, and you know it. Need not appreciate that.”

Loki Mark, another purist, was more specific. He wondered what the appreciation was all about. “The movie claims to be based on real events but its trailer shows a GSLV MK3 exploding. How stupid is that? The first flight of GSLV MK3 took place after Managlyan had reached the Mars! I am not wasting my money and time on that stupid movie, nor should you.”

However, the space agency’s official social media handles have been at it for a while. On July 9, when Mission Mangal’s first teaser was out, Isro’s Instagram comment to an Akshay post went this way: “Ek Desh. Ek Sapna. India to be a space superpower. Few Days to go for achieving new Milestone! #Chandrayaan2.”

Isro had called off its first launch attempt of Chandrayaan-2 from Sriharikota early July 15 morning citing a technical snag. The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched on November 5, 2013 and inserted into the Mars orbit on September 24, 2014.