The Vaccine War

The Vaccine War is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language medical docudrama film directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Pallavi Joshi.[4] It tells about the development of Covaxin during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, shedding light on the efforts of scientists involved in its creation. It is based on the book "Going Viral" by Prof Balram Bhargava of Indian Council of Medical Research .

The Vaccine War
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVivek Agnihotri
Based on"Going Viral" by Dr. Balram Bhargava
Produced byPallavi Joshi
Starring
CinematographyUdaysingh Mohite
Edited byShankh Rajadhyaksha
Music byRohit Sharma
Vanraj Bhatia
Swapnil Bandodkar
Shryea Kaul
Production
company
  • I Am Buddha Production
Distributed byPen Marudhar Entertainment
Release date
  • 28 September 2023 (2023-09-28)
Running time
161 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budgetest.₹10 crore[2]
Box officeest.₹9.47 crore[3]

The film features Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher, Girija Oak, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Sapthami Gowda, and Mohan Kapur.[5]

The Vaccine War was theatrically released on 28 September 2023 to mixed reviews from critics.[6] The film ended up being a commercial failure.[7]

Plot

Scientists at the Indian biomedical lab roll out an indigenous vaccine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the race against time. The Director General of ICMR Dr. Balram Bhargava spearheads the vaccine development project. A high level expert committee is set-up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, ICMR, and Bharat Biotech.

A scientific team of bioengineers led by Dr. Priya Abraham, Director of ICMR-National Institute of Virology, consists of Virologists Dr. Sreelekshmy Mohandas, Dr. Nivedita Gupta, and Dr. Pragya Yadav; Epidemiologists and Infectious Disease Scientists Dr. Rajni Kant Srivastava, Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, Dr. Samiran Panda, Dr. Varsha Potdar and Dr. Enna Dogra Gupta.

The SARS-CoV-2 strain (NIV-2020-770) used in developing the BBV152 vaccine is retrieved from tourists who arrive in New Delhi, India. The scientific team sequences the ‘Vero CCL-81’ cells and the genome sequence is deposited in the GISAID database. The team then reports the development of an inactivated whole-virion SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BBV152, which elicits a neutralizing antibody response in animal studies, and phase I clinical trial against hCoV-19/India/2020770.

Cast

Production

The film was announced in November 2022, last schedule started in June 2023 and the shoot wrapped up on 13 August 2023.[9]

Release

Theatrical

The theatrical release date was announced via teaser on the 77th Independence Day of India.[8] The film will be released on 28 September 2023.[10] Earlier it was set to be released on 15 August 2023 and then 24 October 2023.[9] It is planned to be released in eleven Indian languages[11] including Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Gujarati and Bhojpuri.[9]

The official trailer was released on September 12, 2023.[12] The Vaccine War was marketed as "India's first bio-science film".[13] The film was theatrically released on 28 September 2023.[5]

Music
The Vaccine War
Soundtrack album by
Rohit Sharma, Vanraj Bhatia, Swapnil Bandodkar and Shryea Kaul
Released24 September 2023[14]
Recorded2022
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length17:31
LanguageHindi
LabelZee Music Company
Official audio
The Vaccine War - Full Album on YouTube

The music of the film is composed by Rohit Sharma, Vanraj Bhatia, Swapnil Bandodkar and Shryea Kaul while lyrics written by Vasant Dev and Shryea Kaul.[14]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."The Vaccine War Theme"-Rohit Sharma-2:51
2."The Vaccine War Theme" (Reprise)-Rohit Sharma-2:37
3."Nasadiya Sukta"Vasant DevVanraj BhatiaRahul Chitnis, Vivek Naik, Nitin Karandikar, Sagar Lele, Gaurang Govind Kulkarni, Shrikant Bhausaheb Kulkarni, Tanmay Prabhakar Pandit, Rudra Desai, Adamya Wakhle, Chinmay Vinayak, Abeer Chowdhary, Veena Joshi, Sonal Naik3:56
4."Nasadiya Sukta" (Rock Version)Vasant DevVanraj Bhatia, Swapnil BandodkarSwapnil Bandodkar4:57
5."After The Rain"Shryea KaulShryea KaulShryea Kaul3:30
Total length:17:31

Reception

Critical reception

The Vaccine War garnered mixed reviews from the critics.

Mudit Bhatnagar of Times Now rating it 3.5/5,[15] praising its blend of science and emotion. Reviewing the film, Shalini Langer of The Indian Express rated the film with 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Vivek Agnihotri's devotion to his subject – with obviously the government's full cooperation and access – veers the film often towards the look and feel of a public service broadcast".[16] Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today rated the film with 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "watching the film might give the impression that the entire industry made it their mission to undermine the vaccine and the dedicated scientists behind it."[17] Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India rated the film with 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Nana Patekar is outstanding but the film reduces itself to being a government mouthpiece parading as a medical drama."[18] Venkat Arikatla of Greatandhra gave a rating of 1.5 out of 5, calling it an overdose of propagandist torture. He stated, what the film does is malign those journalists who rightly questioned the ruling party's grand claims of being capable of producing the vaccine.[19]

Box office

On its opening day, The Vaccine War collected a total India net of ₹0.70 crore (US$88,000).[20]

The Vaccine War has grossed ₹7.14 crore (US$890,000) in India, with a further ₹2.33 crore (US$290,000) in overseas, for a worldwide total of ₹9.47 crore (US$1.2 million).[3]

References
  1. "EXCLUSIVE: The Vaccine War Runtime 160 Minutes And Replacement By Censor – Chu**ya With Bewaqoof, Mandir With Vishwaguru, Reference Of PM As Viswaguru". 20 August 2023. Archived from the original on 17 September 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  2. "Vivek Agnihotri Says Shah Rukh Khan's 'Jawan' Will Be 'All Time Blockbuster', Talks About 'The Vaccine War' Clash With 'Salaar'". ABP News. 13 July 2023. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. "The Vaccine War Box office". Bollywood Hungama. 28 September 2023. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  4. डेस्क, एबीपी एंटरटेनमेंट (15 August 2023). "विवेक रंजन अग्निहोत्री ने 'द वैक्सीन वॉर' का शानदार टीज़र रिलीज". ABP News (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. "Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's 'The Vaccine War' to release in September, teaser out". The Times of India. 15 August 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  6. "Fukrey 3 box office collection is Rs 66.15 crore, The Vaccine War folds up with Rs 47 lakh despite PM Modi's mention". 6 October 2023.
  7. "Fukrey 3 On Course To Be a HIT - The Vaccine War Is A Disaster". Box Office India. 20 January 2023. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  8. "The Vaccine War teaser: Vivek Agnihotri shows intigruing glimpse of India's Covid-19 battle, sets up clash with Salaar". DNA India. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. "Vivek Agnihotri announces The Vaccine War release date with teaser. Watch". Hindustan Times. 15 August 2023. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  10. "Anupam Kher, Nana Patekar's The Vaccine War to clash with Prabhas' Salaar at the box office". Firstpost. 15 August 2023. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  11. sanjana. "'The Vaccine War' Teaser OUT: Nana Patekar in Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's directorial peaks fan curiosity". Asianet News. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  12. "The Vaccine War trailer: It's Indian scientists vs naysayers in Vivek Agnihotri's next film". Hindustan Times. 12 September 2023. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  13. "The Vaccine War teaser: Vivek Agnihotri presents India's first Bio-Science movie on creating Covaxin, film to clash with Salaar". The Indian Express. 15 August 2023. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  14. "The Vaccine War – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jiosaavn. 25 September 2023. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  15. "The Vaccine War Movie Review: Vivek Agnihotri Blends Science With Emotions In Fitting Tribute To Unsung Pandemic Heroes". TimesNow. 28 September 2023. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  16. "The Vaccine War movie review: Vivek Agnihotri's tribute to Covid warriors, and atmanirbharta". The Indian Express. 28 September 2023. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  17. "The Vaccine War Review: Vivek Agnihotri's film is relevant but not without flaws". India Today. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  18. "The Vaccine War Movie Review : Not coronavirus, media's the real villain in this one-sided medical drama". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  19. Arikatla, Venkat (29 September 2023). "'The Vaccine War' Review: Overdose of propagandist torture". greatandhra.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  20. "The Vaccine War Box Office Collection Day 1". Box Office Adda. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
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