Tara Shinde (played by Vidya Balan) is a protagonist in Mission Mangal.
Project Director at ISRO who faces relocation after a GSLV launch miscalculation. She pioneers a minimal-fuel strategy for the Mars Orbiter Mission and successfully motivates her demoralized junior team by reconnecting them with their childhood passion for science. She remains steadfast under pressure, ultimately leading the mission to successful Mars insertion. Rakesh Dhawan (played by Akshay Kumar) appears in Mission Mangal.
A fellow ISRO scientist who accepts blame for a launch failure and is reassigned to the Mars Orbiter Mission. He identifies critical payload and fuel constraints with the PSLV rocket, leads the junior technical team, and collaborates closely with Tara to overcome budget cuts and technical setbacks, ensuring the mission's eventual success. Kritika Aggarwal (played by Taapsee Pannu) appears in Mission Mangal.
A navigation expert on the MOM team who struggles with her personal life while trying to obtain a driving license. She temporarily abandons her duties upon hearing that her army husband Rishi was severely wounded in action, but returns to the project after he reminds her of her patriotic duty to the mission. Eka Gandhi (played by Sonakshi Sinha) appears in Mission Mangal.
A propulsion control expert who initially seeks opportunities to transfer to NASA. She gradually develops a romantic interest in Parmeshwar, showing personal growth and deeper commitment to the team and mission. Neha Siddiqui (played by Kirti Kulhari) appears in Mission Mangal.
A spacecraft autonomy designer facing societal rejection due to her divorce and intercommunal background. While struggling to find housing, she is warmly welcomed into Ananth's home, where his wife helps her heal from past trauma and integrate into the team's supportive environment. Rupert (played by Dalip Tahil) appears in Mission Mangal.
An ex-NASA scientist of Indian origin who takes over GSLV missions after the initial failures. He initially doubts the feasibility of the Mars mission due to its tight budget and later mocks the team when technical setbacks occur during the orbit-raising manoeuvre. Sunil (played by Sanjay Kapoor) appears in Mission Mangal.
Tara's husband, with whom she frequently clashes over domestic and personal matters. After Tara traces their daughter to a nightclub, Sunil warms up to the environment and shares a nostalgic comment that inadvertently inspires Tara's innovative fuel-saving strategy and team motivation plan.
Mission Mangal (2019) character relationship network mapped with AI analysis. Explore the connections, alliances, and conflicts between characters.
Characters
Tara Shinde
(played by Vidya Balan) — protagonist
Project Director at ISRO who faces relocation after a GSLV launch miscalculation. She pioneers a minimal-fuel strategy for the Mars Orbiter Mission and successfully motivates her demoralized junior te...
Rakesh Dhawan
(played by Akshay Kumar) — supporting
A fellow ISRO scientist who accepts blame for a launch failure and is reassigned to the Mars Orbiter Mission. He identifies critical payload and fuel constraints with the PSLV rocket, leads the junior...
Kritika Aggarwal
(played by Taapsee Pannu) — supporting
A navigation expert on the MOM team who struggles with her personal life while trying to obtain a driving license. She temporarily abandons her duties upon hearing that her army husband Rishi was seve...
Eka Gandhi
(played by Sonakshi Sinha) — supporting
A propulsion control expert who initially seeks opportunities to transfer to NASA. She gradually develops a romantic interest in Parmeshwar, showing personal growth and deeper commitment to the team a...
Neha Siddiqui
(played by Kirti Kulhari) — supporting
A spacecraft autonomy designer facing societal rejection due to her divorce and intercommunal background. While struggling to find housing, she is warmly welcomed into Ananth's home, where his wife he...
Rupert
(played by Dalip Tahil) — supporting
An ex-NASA scientist of Indian origin who takes over GSLV missions after the initial failures. He initially doubts the feasibility of the Mars mission due to its tight budget and later mocks the team...
Sunil
(played by Sanjay Kapoor) — supporting
Tara's husband, with whom she frequently clashes over domestic and personal matters. After Tara traces their daughter to a nightclub, Sunil warms up to the environment and shares a nostalgic comment t...
Canonical Relationships
Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.
Neha works as the spacecraft autonomy designer on the junior team that Rakesh leads for MOM.
Tara Shinde → Neha Siddiqui
(Professional Mentor)
Neha is assigned as the spacecraft autonomy designer on Tara and Rakesh's junior team. Tara motivates the demoralized scientists to reconnect with the...
Rakesh Dhawan → Kritika Aggarwal
(Professional Team Leader)
Kritika works on the MOM project under the team led by Rakesh and Tara, contributing navigation expertise.
Tara Shinde → Sunil
(Family Spouse)
The plot identifies Sunil as Tara's husband and describes their frequent clashes over domestic and personal matters.
Kritika is assigned to Tara and Rakesh's junior team as a navigation expert. Tara later works to restore the team's morale when Kritika temporarily le...
Story Dynamics
Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.
Both Kritika and Neha are members of the junior scientific team working to make the Mars mission succeed under severe budget and scheduling constraint...
Rupert controls the new GSLV missions after the earlier failures, while Rakesh is reassigned to the supposedly impossible Mars mission. Rupert mocks R...
Tara Shinde → Rupert
(Conflict Professional Rival)
Rupert takes over the GSLV missions and opposes assigning the junior team to the Mars project. He later mocks the team after an orbit-raising failure.
Tara Shinde → Rakesh Dhawan
(Alliance Teammate)
Rakesh works with Tara at ISRO and takes responsibility for the failed GSLV-F06 launch. Tara then joins him on the Mars Orbiter Mission.
Story Analysis
A determined scientific team transforms failure, limited resources, and personal pressure into India's successful first-attempt Mars orbit insertion.
