Akshay Kumar along with Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Kirit Kulhari and Nithya Menen attended the premiere of their film Mission Mangal in New Delhi. The film also stars Vidya Balan and Sharman Joshi, who weren't present for the premiere. All pictures/Pallav Paliwal and Yogen Shah

Mission Mangal is based on India's first Mars Orbiter Mission and it features an ensemble cast. Akshay Kumar plays the role of Rakesh Dhawan, senior scientist at Indian Space Research Organisation, who believes that 'there is no science without experiment'.

In picture: Taapsee Pannu, Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Kirit Kulhari and Nithya Menen pose for the photographers at the premiere of their film.

Nithya Menen talking about the largely female film told IANS, "I don't think we have exaggerated the presence of women and their contribution because it is true that in the real mission, there were many women who contributed. My aunt is a scientist and she also works in ISRO. There are many female scientists working there."

With just a day to go for the release of the multi-starrer film Mission Mangal, the star cast has been managing to keep the enthusiasm alive. After playing Antakshri while travelling for promotions, one of the film's cast members, Akshay Kumar has now turned a 'low-budget' make-up artist for Sonakshi Sinha. Sonakshi Sinha's fan club uploaded a video in which, Akshay Kumar was seen applying make-up to Sonakshi's face. To the actress's surprise, Akshay suddenly pokes her nose with the brush.

Mission Mangal is directed by Jagan Shakti. Presented by Fox Star Studios, Produced by Cape of Good Films, Hope Productions, and Fox Star Studios, the film releases on August 15, 2019.

Taapsee Pannu talks about the film said, "It's based on true events but the characters are not specific to particular scientists. There are different posts and characters assigned for each post. I haven't met the people who were part of the mission, but since I belong to a science background - I have completed my engineering - I am familiar with the terms and theories that have been used in the film."