The Vaccine War
| The Vaccine War | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster  | |
| Directed by | Vivek Agnihotri | 
| Produced by | Pallavi Joshi | 
| Starring | 
  | 
| Music by | Rohit Sharma Vanraj Bhatia Swapnil Bandodkar Shryea Kaul  | 
| Cinematography | Udaysingh Mohite | 
| Edited by | Shankh Rajadhyaksha | 
Production company  | 
  | 
| Distributed by | Pen Marudhar Entertainment | 
Release date  | 
  | 
Running time  | 161 minutes[1] | 
| Country | India | 
| Language | Hindi | 
| Budget | est.₹10 crore[2] | 
| Box office | est.₹9.61 crore[3] | 
The Vaccine War is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language medical drama 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 film features Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher, Girija Oak, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Sapthami Gowda, and Mohan Kapur.[5]
The Vaccine War theatrically released on 28 September 2023, coinciding with the Ananta Chaturdashi.[4]
Plot[edit]
The film honours the commitment of the scientific and medical communities during the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Cast[edit]
- Nana Patekar as Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director-General of Indian Council of Medical Research
 - Pallavi Joshi as Dr. Priya Abraham, Director of ICMR-National Institute of Virology
 - Raima Sen as Rohini Singh Dhulia, Science Editor at The Daily Wire
 - Sapthami Gowda as Dr. Sreelekshmy Mohandas, Scientist at ICMR-NIV
 - Anupam Kher as Cabinet Secretary
 - Girija Oak as Dr. Nivedita Gupta, Head of Virology Dept. at ICMR
 - Nivedita Bhattacharya as Dr. Pragya Yadav, Scientist at ICMR-NIV
 - Mohan Kapur as Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar[6], Head and Scientist of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Division at ICMR
 - Anchal Dwivedi as Dr. Enna Dogra Gupta, Scientist at ICMR
 - Arvind Paswan as Dr. Rajni Kant Srivastava, Sr. Deputy Director-General of ICMR
 - Mayukh as Dr. Samiran Panda, Head and Scientist of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease Division at ICMR (Also Director of ICMR-NARI)
 - Deepjyoti Das as Editor
 - Vrinda Kher as Dr. Varsha Potdar, Scientist and Sr. Research Officer at ICMR-NIV
 - Suhita Thatte as House help of Rohini Singh Dhulia
 - Benny Brown as Security Guard Bahadur
 - Manas Gupta as Gardener’s Son
 - Divya Seth as Dr. Bhargava’s wife
 - Reuben Israel as Dr. Priya Abraham’s husband
 - Arjun Dwivedi as Dr. Sanjay Yadav
 - Asheesh Kapur as Vikas Gupta
 - Aarav Shukla as Dr. Pragya Yadav’s son
 - Kavya Goel as Dr. Pragya Yadav’s daughter
 - Rudra Choudhary as Dr. Nivedita Gupta’s son
 - Nitant Trivedi as Dr. Nivedita Gupta’s son
 
Production[edit]
The film was announced in November 2022, last schedule started in June 2023 and the shoot wrapped up on 13 August 2023.[7]
Release[edit]
Theatrical[edit]
The theatrical release date was announced via teaser on the 77th Independence Day of India.[6] The film will be released on 28 September 2023.[8] Earlier it was set to be released on 15 August 2023 and then 24 October 2023.[7] It is planned to be released in eleven Indian languages[9] including Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Gujarati and Bhojpuri.[7]
The official trailer was released on September 12, 2023.[10] The Vaccine War is marketed as "India's first bio-science film".[11] The film theatrically released on 28 September 2023.[5]
Home media[edit]
As per some reports, the film's digital rights have been brought by Disney+ Hotstar.[12]
Music[edit]
| The Vaccine War | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | 24 September 2023[13] | 
| Recorded | 2022 | 
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | 
| Length | 17:31 | 
| Language | Hindi | 
| Label | Zee Music Company | 
| Official audio | |
| The Vaccine War - Full Album at 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.[13]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(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 Dev | Vanraj Bhatia | Rahul 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 Naik | 3:56 | 
| 4. | "Nasadiya Sukta" (Rock Version) | Vasant Dev | Vanraj Bhatia, Swapnil Bandodkar | Swapnil Bandodkar | 4:57 | 
| 5. | "After The Rain" | Shryea Kaul | Shryea Kaul | Shryea Kaul | 3:30 | 
| Total length: | 17:31 | ||||
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
"The Vaccine War" garnered mixed reviews, with Mudit Bhatnagar of Times Now rating it 3.5/5,[14] 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".[15] 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."[16] 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."[17] 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.[18]
Box office[edit]
According to a report by India Today, "The Vaccine War" was unable to cross the ₹1 crore mark on its opening day, managing to collect only ₹0.85 crore. Early estimates suggest that the film faced challenges on its second day as well, earning a similar amount of ₹0.85 crore.[19] The film recorded an overall Hindi occupancy rate of 11.77%. Times Now also shared a similar report and added that based on the numbers, it seems unlikely for the movie to experience significant growth or a surge in its weekend performance.[20] India Today reported, on Saturday the film made ₹1.50 crore, with 68% jump bringing its total box office earnings to ₹3.25 crore. According to Bollywood Hungama, the film reportedly earned ₹3.66 crore in its first three days at the box office.[21] Despite a slow start, the film seems to have garnered some momentum over the weekend, possibly to the 'buy 1 get 1 ticket free' offer announced by the filmmaker on Instagram.[22]
References[edit]
- ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: The Vaccine War Runtime 160 Minutes And Replacement By Censor – Chu**ya With Bewaqoof, Mandir With Vishwaguru, Reference Of PM As Viswaguru". Archived from the original on 17 September 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
 - ↑ "Vivek Agnihotri Says Shah Rukh Khan's 'Jawan' Will Be 'All Time Blockbuster', Talks About 'The Vaccine War' Clash With 'Salaar'". ABP News. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
 - ↑ "The Vaccine War Box office". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
 - ↑ 4.0 4.1 डेस्क, एबीपी एंटरटेनमेंट (15 August 2023). "विवेक रंजन अग्निहोत्री ने 'द वैक्सीन वॉर' का शानदार टीज़र रिलीज". ABP News (in हिन्दी). Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
 - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "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.
 - ↑ 6.0 6.1 "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.
 - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "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.
 - ↑ "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.
 - ↑ 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.
 - ↑ "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.
 - ↑ "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.
 - ↑ "The Vaccine War OTT Release Date, OTT Rights & Platform News". 1 October 2023.
 - ↑ 13.0 13.1 "The Vaccine War – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jiosaavn. 25 September 2023.
 - ↑ "The Vaccine War Movie Review: Vivek Agnihotri Blends Science With Emotions In Fitting Tribute To Unsung Pandemic Heroes". TimesNow. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
 - ↑ "The Vaccine War movie review: Vivek Agnihotri's tribute to Covid warriors, and atmanirbharta". The Indian Express. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
 - ↑ "The Vaccine War Review: Vivek Agnihotri's film is relevant but not without flaws". India Today. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
 - ↑ "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. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
 - ↑ Arikatla, Venkat (29 September 2023). "'The Vaccine War' Review: Overdose of propagandist torture". greatandhra.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
 - ↑ "'The Vaccine War' box office collection Day 2: Vivek's film struggles to pick". India Today. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
 - ↑ "The Vaccine War Box Office Collection Day 2: Nana Patekar Film Sees No Growth, Mints Only Rs 85 Lakh". TimesNow. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
 - ↑ Hungama, Bollywood (28 September 2023). "The Vaccine War Box Office Collection | India | Day Wise | Box Office - Bollywood Hungama". Retrieved 1 October 2023.
 - ↑ "'The Vaccine War': Vivek Agnihotri announces 'buy 1 get 1' ticket after 'Jawan'". India Today. Retrieved 1 October 2023.