PLOT: The film honors the commitment of the scientific and medical communities during the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic.
The Vaccine War is a medical drama thriller directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Pallavi Joshi. It is based on the true story of the development of Covaxin during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The movie is marketed as “India’s first bio-science film”. It was theatrically released on 28th September 2023.
Star Cast:
Nana Patekar as Dr Balram Bhargava
Pallavi Joshi as Dr Priya Abraham
Raima Sen as Rohini Singh Dulhia
Sapthami Gowda as Dr. Sree Lakshymi
Girija Oak as Dr Nivedita Gupta
Nivedita Bhattacharya as Dr. Pragya Yadav
Anupam Kher as Bureaucrat at PMO
MOVIE REVIEW: Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, the man who made a name with his outstanding films like The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files, once again delivered an important film. The Vaccine War is not as powerful and hard-hitting as his previous two films but he manages to give his audience a significant movie that celebrates the sacrifice and achievements of Indian scientists and our healthcare professionals.
The story is divided into 12 chapters that are based on the book by former Director General of The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr. Balram Bharghav titled ‘Going Viral’. The first half of the film brilliantly explores the step-by-step making of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and showcases the challenges that scientists at ICMR & NIV had faced and how they managed to overcome them to bring India’s first indigenous vaccine in a record time of seven months.
The screenplay in the second half is less engaging than the first half but it does make you emotional in certain parts. But the pace of the film in the second half becomes too slow and the narrative isn’t able to keep you hooked till the climax. The background score of the film could have been better and the runtime of 2 hours 41 minutes feels stretched, the editing could have been tighter here.
The star cast of the film was a powerhouse of talent. Nana Patekar and Pallavi Joshi have delivered an excellent performance. Raima Sen gave a good performance too and her antagonist character will surely make you hate her. Girija Oak and Nivedita Bhattacharya were great in their roles. Kantara’s actress Sapthami Gowa gave an impressive act in her limited role. Anupam Kher got less screen time but he managed to give a decent performance.
The Vaccine War Movie Rating:
Direction 3.5/5
Acting 4/5
Dialogues 3/5
Story 4/5
Screenplay 3/5
Overall Hit ya Flop Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars (Very Good)
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