ISRO to celebrate Mangalyaan anniversary with 'The Martian'

Bengaluru: On the occasion of first anniversary of the successful launch of Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission), Fox Star Studios will host a special screening of Ridley Scott`s "The Martian" for scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and their families.

The screening of the film will be held here on Thursday and in Ahmedabad on Saturday. The screening will be followed by fun engaging activities to give an experience of Mars to the families of the ISRO scientists.

"Screening this highly realistic film set in a world not too far advanced from our own was our way of acknowledging the efforts of the Mars Orbiter team at ISRO led by Dr. Arunan on their first anniversary of Mangalyaan entering Mars orbit and being only the fourth space agency to do so," Sunder Kimatrai, executive vice president - Asia Pacific, 20th Century Fox, said in a statement.

The film features Matt Damon as astronaut Mark Watney who, when presumed dead on a mission to Mars, has to survive until rescue arrives.

"The Martian" also features Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover in important roles.

It releases in India on October 2 and will be dubbed in three languages - Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.