Someone very rightly remarked about India’s first bio-science movie on X (formerly Twitter), “Do watch to know what these scientists were doing and going through while most of us were ‘busy’ making Dalgona coffee!” While the quip might evince a chuckle now, but if a moment is taken to introspect over the tenacity, intelligence and determination of some of Bharat’s most notable medical scientists, the importance of Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War is bound to be crystal clear. Even if we discount the technical information and medical jargon dished out in the thoroughly researched work that is now running in theatres, what we mustn’t forget is that there was a batch of dedicated individuals in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, who prioritized the lives of the people of India over their own health and families while diligently devising a way to combat the deadly Coronavirus on a war footing.
When we think of war, the image of armed soldiers, battle tanks, ammunition and excruciating terrains flood the mind. And then there are the soldiers who bravely fight the enemy by sacrificing their safety because of the love for their motherland. These scientists were no less than the Bharatiya jawan or the sipahi who endangers his life for the mitti he was born on. In a bio war unleashed on the world to ensure death and destruction cripple humanity, our scientists shunned their own physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing to do something never done before in India. Create a vaccine for the teeming populace to protect and bolster their immunity against the pandemic. This was not just a triumph for the medical community in India represented by the likes of Dr Balram Bhargava, Dr Priya Abraham, Dr Nivedita Gupta and Dr Pragya but also for our country that saw this milestone as a first step towards becoming atmanirbhar. If self confidence is a journey in personality development, the making of the indigenous Covaxin was a sturdy step towards that belief.
This clearly is Agnihotri’s most stylish production till date and while the editing could have been tighter, the movie is inundated by memorable montages and scenes. Udaysingh Mohite’s camera zooms in on expressions ensuring you do not miss out on the rawness of them. You will fidget when fear and hopelessness ooze out of Dr Sreelekshmy’s eyes (Sapthami Gowda couldn’t have got a better Hindi film debut), your lips will quiver when Dr Abraham gets teary eyed, when Dr Nivedita must take a tough call between work and family you will feel her pain, you will yelp with joy when Dr Pragya rejoices at the success of the isolation of the virus. But perhaps you will be most affected, and in a good way, when the viewfinder repeatedly trains itself on Dr Bhargava’s expressionless but driven face. To understand the enormity of what our scientists have done for the country, to appreciate their selfless service as silent warriors battling against a killer virus is something that the director has been able to stoke a reaction for.
This film is also about the might and gravity of what women in our country are capable of. The audience is lauding this movie as a celebration of Naarishakti for no mean reason. The people of this country who today are protected against the debilitating tentacles of Covid 19 because of Covaxin need to understand that most of the scientists who made it were women. Women who just like me and you have families and the sundry niggles that life throws at us. But they never let those come in the way of what they set out to do. Win a war for the sake of their countrymen. I would like to laud Agnihotri for peppering the engaging narrative with those very human moments that elevate the true story to a more heartwarming realm. Relativity is what enlivens The Vaccine War. Through tears, smiles, hugs and little victories, the saga of these scientists brings a smile even as it makes you realise how unsung these soldiers were till the filmmaker decided to tell their remarkable story. Just how the country needed to hear what the Pushkar Nath Pandits and Krishna Pandits had to say to clear their names and set history right, Dr Bhargava and his team of brilliant scientists also needed a detailed introduction followed by a thorough deconstruction. Do not miss the first scene of the movie. You will get what I am trying to say. Rather what the director is implying.
Speaking of revelations, I believe the plot concerning the toolkit gang helmed by scribe Rohini Singh Dhulia (no points for guessing who is being referred to) played impeccably by Raima Sen, could have been less grating. When the film is about consolidated victories, the narration seems to get marred when exposes are tactfully subtle. But then, when the audience is used to mainstream commercialism doled out by Bollywood, I guess creative cinema sometimes try to simplify twists to the blinded or brainwashed audience.
That would be the only jarring note in this well-made drama (the BGM could have been better) where one of the high points is also the song, Nasadiya Sukta, composed by Vanraj Bhatia. It is an uplifting and overwhelming experience hearing the chorus while witnessing the scientists go about their business in a no-nonsense manner.
I’ve saved the best for the last. Deliberations on Pallavi Joshi and Nana Patekar (Girija Oak was fabulous, too). Pallavi Joshi nails the part of Dr Abraham. That this performer puts her heart into the characters she takes up is clear from the accented Hindi she speaks throughout the film. Balancing her part as an emotional yet driven scientist, perhaps it is the human touch she puts into the character that makes her Dr Abraham convincing and inspiring.
Agnihotri perhaps was lucky to have Patekar take up this challenging role because he makes Dr Balram Bhargava his own without any excesses. A workaholic who sometimes breaches the limits of what should be and what mustn’t be, Patekar’s Dr Bhargava will even make you giggle in parts. However, just like how Darshan Kumar hits the ball out of the park in The Kashmir Files with his rousing monologue in the end, Patekar is given the responsibility to deliver one in the last few minutes of The Vaccine War. And boy, he proves once again why we must be proud of such a marvelous artist. You can sense that Patekar believes in the lines he is delivering with such earnest and panache. He effortlessly instills the nationalistic pride in every Bharatiya who must steadfastly believe that India Can Do It!
