Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, ‘The Vaccine War’ is based on true events of Covid-19 and the development of its vaccine in India. The story is mainly about the struggles as well as the determination of Indian scientists.
Director: Vivek Agnihotri
Cast: Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher, Girija Oak, Nivedita Bhattacharya
Runtime: 2 Hours 40 Minutes
Story: The movie opens with the nationwide lockdown in April 2020. Then, the story goes back to a few weeks earlier when the Covid-19 virus was just discovered. As India is on the brink of an epidemic, scientists get ready to combat it.
‘This is a war and we are all soldiers,’ says Dr Bhargava (played by Nana Patekar), who embarks on a journey with scientists at the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) to create India’s first vaccine against the Covid-19. How he along with his team face the obstacles and overcome them – to know this, you have to watch the movie.
Pros: The performances of all the actors are fantastic, including an excellent cameo by Anupam Kher. It’s, however, Patekar’s role which is absolutely stellar. This movie is a befitting tribute to the scientific community which rarely gets its due. This movie champions a ‘Nari Shakti’ message via a team of determined and courageous women scientists working on the vaccine and highlights their strengths and struggles.
Cons: But despite its noble intentions, the film does go overboard in some places. This is especially obvious when it goes with all guns blazing at a segment of media that spread fake stories against the government and the dubious nature of Covaxin- these issues could have been presented in a better way.
Apart from that, this movie is quite long (160 minutes)- that could have been improved.
Watch the trailer of 'The Vaccine War':
Conclusion: Overall, The Vaccine War is watchable if you can get over its excesses in some parts.
Sure, the film leans towards stoking adverse emotion towards a segment of media and some elements, yet it is watchable for its sincerity for the scientific community that created history by inventing India’s first vaccine for covid-19
