The Man who knew Infinity is a British biographical drama about the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, based on the book by the same name by Robert Kanigel.
The story begins just as World War I starts taking shape. Impoverished Ramanujan, played by Dev Patel, works as a clerk in an accounting house. While performing his routine labour, his colleague discovers Ramanujan’s exceptional skills in mathematics. He decides to write a letter to the formidable Cambridge mathematician, G.H. Hardy, played by Jeremy Irons, to allow Ramanujan to attend Cambridge.
Initially sceptical, Hardy thinks of this as a massive joke, despite being curious by the examples of the formulas in the letter. But his optimistic colleague named John Littlewood urges him to take a chance and summons Ramanujan abroad.
Ramanujan gets overwhelmed by the opportunity, decides to pursue the offer from Cambridge, even though it requires him to leave Chennai, his mother and wife for an extended period.
Upon arrival at Cambridge, Ramanujan faces various forms of racial prejudice and finds life in England difficult than expected. But Ramanujan gets enormous support from Mr. Hardy. Ramanujan’s journey and how he proves himself can be seen in the rest of the movie.
Mr. Hardy’s constant support leaves a heart melting message: like every skyscraper needs bricks and cements to stand, tall every student needs his teacher’s support to rise and reach the sky. This makes it a must-watch for all teachers.