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.
Direction 3.5/5
Acting 4/5
Dialogues 3/5
Story 4/5
Screenplay 3/5.
6 out of 19 found this helpful