Welcome to Africanews

Please select your experience

Watch Live

This is Culture

this-is-culture

'The Man Who Knew Infinity' to be released in US, parts of Europe in April

'The Man Who Knew Infinity' to be released in US, parts of Europe in April

India

Director Matthew Brown’s biopic “THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY” about India’s mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanudjan, will be out in the US and some European countries this month.

The film explores the life of the self-taught genius who gained admission to Cambridge University during the first world war and later became a pioneer in mathematical theories.

The film which was shot in 2014 had its world premiere as a gala presentation at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

Slumdog Millionaire star, Dev Patel plays the lead role.

Some journeys have no limits. The Man Who Knew Infinity, starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons, is in cinemas NOW. pic.twitter.com/5eqVf6n7SJ

— Warner Bros. UK (@WarnerBrosUK) April 8, 2016

“It was actually a very triumphant story for me, a very enlightening film and I wanted more people to know about it,” Patel said explaining that “I didn’t know about this incredible man. If I could help breathe life into his legacy, then I was happy to do so and that’s what he did.”

Patel’s character faces enormous challenges including racism, rejection and serious illness.

And although there is no record of Ramanudjan speaking, Patel says he was able to base his character on photographs and notebooks of the mathematician.

“There was no real physical material that we could mimic, there was no found footage or anything of how he spoke. You know, the cliché says: ‘A picture says a thousand words’, but it really is true,” he explained.

For Patel, it was about capturing “the essence of this man and his resilience, that you could see in the pictures, you could read in the book”.

“He’s fiercely passionate and that’s something I could really dial into – and I hope we did it justice” he added.

Described as a “plodding, overly dutiful biopic”, the movie opened to luke-warm reviews, though critics have praised Patel for “making the film live whenever it does”.

THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY also stars Jeremy Irons and Stephen Fry.

_Reuters _

View more