Did You Know Astronaut Rakesh Sharma's Son Is A Filmmaker?

NDTV

09-06-2025

New Delhi:
Did you know that Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to fly to space, has a son who chose a very different career path?
His son Kapil Sharma is a filmmaker who directed the 2013 movie I, Me Aur Main, starring John Abraham, Chitrangda Singh and Prachi Desai.
Kapil Sharma may not have followed in his father's footsteps, but space was very much a part of his childhood. In an interview with Rediff.com in 2011, Kapil recalled what it was like growing up as the son of India's first astronaut.
"I was 10 and I remember everything. I knew by the age of four or five what a fighter aircraft was and what they did. I knew what my dad did," he said.
He shared how fascinated he was seeing his father return from night flying missions: "For me, at the age of four or five, that was terrific when he came home with helmet and oxygen mask. I would wait for him to go on night flights just to see him in his clothes."
Kapil said he was already familiar with sci-fi thanks to Star Wars, so when he learned that his father would be going to space, it felt surreal. He added, "For a kid, it was like going to an amusement park."
While Rakesh Sharma was training for his space mission, the family lived in Moscow for a year-and-a-half. "The main launch took place in Kazakhstan. The family stays in Moscow, and when there is an opportunity to speak, mom would be taken to mission control in Moscow and she would speak to dad," Kapil recalled.
When they returned to India, Kapil realised the scale of his father's fame. He shared, "In school, I was a star. I didn't always want that attention, but I got it by default."
But it was cinema, not aviation or space, that captured Kapil's imagination. From a young age, he was drawn to theatre and backstage work. "In school and college, I was always interested in theatre and plays. I loved watching movies and everything about it, and somewhere in my middle teens, I wanted to know about the process of filmmaking," he said.
Kapil studied environmental science at St Joseph's in Bangalore, but eventually pursued a master's in mass communication from Pune University, with a specialisation in video production. He began his career working in television, creating news features and fiction shows. Wanting to break into films, he then went to the US to study at the International Film and Television Workshop in Maine, where he learned skills like cinematography, direction and scriptwriting.
Kapil returned to India in 2001 and, in 2013, made his directorial debut with I, Me Aur Main.
Interestingly, before becoming a director, Kapil also had a brief stint in acting. He appeared in films such as The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.
Kapil's sister, Krittika Sharma, is a media artist.
Meanwhile, Rakesh Sharma, now retired, has expressed his desire to be part of India's future space missions. Speaking to NDTV, he said he would like to fly in India's own manned mission Gaganyaan. The Gaganyaan mission, expected to launch in 2025-2026, is a key part of India's human spaceflight programme.
Launched from Sriharikota on the Human Rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (GSLV Mk III), the Gaganyaan mission will send up to three astronauts into low-Earth orbit for up to three days.
As the country waits for its next big leap in space, another Indian Air Force officer is getting ready to make history. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, selected as one of ISRO's four astronauts for the Gaganyaan mission, is set to launch aboard the Axiom Mission 4.
He and three other astronauts will travel aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, scheduled for launch on June 10 at 8:22 am ET from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre.
The Axiom 4 crew will orbit the station and carry out science experiments, outreach and commercial tasks, marking yet another milestone in India's growing space legacy, one that started with Rakesh Sharma's historic journey four decades ago.