Travancore royal family likely to take legal action against web series for showing Chithira Thirunal Maharaja in bad light

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore royal family has come out against a web series that portrayed Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last king of Travancore, in a bad light. His niece Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi has come out against the SonyLiv web series 'Rocket Boys' which tells the story of the scientific research progress made by independent India. Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi said that what was being shown in the web series was untrue and baseless. The royal family said it would take legal action if necessary.

The defamatory remark was made during a conversation between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indian nuclear scientist Homi J. Bhabha and the Maharaja. The scene shows Chithira Thirunal, Nehru and Bhabha discussing in Delhi the availability of Monazite deposits in Travancore to the country. It shows Chithira Thirunal saying that since Travancore was not a part of the country and that it was not obliged to follow Nehru's instructions, The Maharaja also said that Travancore was willing to pay Monazite for the price offered by others in the market. In the ensuing scenes, Bhabha can be seen alleging corruption against Chithira Thirunal in the absence of Nehru. In the web series, Bhabha alleged that while Travancore was allowed to export only 50,000 tonnes of Monazite, three lakh tonnes were exported to Europe and its share was illegally acquired. Chithira Thirunal can be seen arguing that it was Travancore's internal affairs to decide on how much to export. In response, Bhabha threatens the Maharaja by saying that several kings have died due to poisoning and by other means.

In another episode, the web series praises the cooperation of the natives and the bishop of Thumba in setting up India's first space research centre.