Review

The Vaccine War (2023) : Movie Review -

Vivek Agnihotri, in his 2.0 version, brings another challenging story based on facts with The Vaccine War. His last film, The Kashmir Files, was a huge commercial success, and there are several reasons for it apart from its content. TKF is arguable for many reasons, but as a movie buff/critic I had to look at it as a film. I liked it for certain reasons, and you can read my review to know how it took me back to those days when controversial cinemas were brutal and hard-hitting and were called propaganda by some people. Legends like DW Griffith and Sergie Eisenstien were too gutsy and intelligent to make those films a century ago, when those subjects were untouchable. Vivek Agnihotri luckily came in the social media era, where there are always two sides to any story. He just had to get the support of one side to make his low-budget film successful. TKF exceeded everything, though. Now, he has brought another story on "India", and even though it is named "The Vaccine War" and is supposed to be a medical thriller/drama, it's still extremely political about its overall gesture. It's interesting because the story needed to be told since we are living freely today because of the hard work of our scientists, but I don't see how they get involved with political conspiracies, media trials, family crises at the wrong times, and most importantly, inner politics. TWV could have made a beautiful film on the fight and the victory of the scientists, but it's spoiled by an orchestrated vision and a political sense of somebody's choice.

The Vaccine War starts off with a scene of a scientist being caught by a constable during the lockdown. That was a heartbreaking scene, but I couldn't stop laughing when the constable insulted the scientist and made him a murga. All he had to do was make a call, and the hawaldar would have sent him off with a salute. I mean, come on, it's too common in India. Anyways, the film then takes us back to December 2019 and January 2020, when India was unaware of the COVID-19 virus but scientists knew about it. It follows the timeline of Corona's immigration, lockdown, medical events, political decisions, and media headlines to the vaccine's creation, testing, and vaccination process. The film also focuses on terrorism in journalism and medical fields, while hardcore feminism is one of the major highlights of its plot.

Technically speaking, Vivek's script comes from one person's point of view-the author of the book. So it was entitled to be curved on either side because, naturally, a person can only have one clear point of view, be it professionally or unprofessionally. TWV seems highly inspired by propaganda, especially in the media field. Being journalists, we know how the system works, so we don't really need to know from the film. For Vivek, it must be one film or two; for us, it's a daily activity. The idea of setting a journalist as an antagonist is cinematically clever because you cannot have any other substitute for a villain against scientists when they are on the biggest mission of their life. The problem appears in the way it is presented or highlighted. One journalist writes a negative story, so what? There are a hundred others who are writing the truth. Then how can the entire narrative run along with the highlighting of one journalist? In real life, it would take the government only 2 minutes to set the journalist straight. How can one misfire with such a lame technique? The next big fault in the film is its political commentary. Yes, it was necessary and couldn't be avoided because we all owe it to the government that took decisions in those critical times, but glorifying an agenda isn't right. At least in a movie that's supposed to glorify the work rather than the individual. Vivek Agnihotri took full liberty in being open and vivid about the same, and you seriously need a strong vision to do that.

The Vaccine War may have many problems with its story and screenplay, but the performances aren't part of it. What a terrific acting unit Agnihotri has assembled here! Nana Patekar looked exhausted in the first half an hour, but later he shifted the gears to high speed. He was unstoppable until the end. I don't think anyone else could have done this role other than him. The characteristics were so close to his own image. He is stubborn, dominating, and seriously funny. "Kitna waqt lagega?" he asks the female scientist. She replies, "3-4 din lagenge". "Thik hain! 2 din deta hu," he hits back. What a powerful persona he creates with this sensitive character! Pallavi Joshi was fantastic in TKF, and she continues her great form here as well. Sapthami Gowda and Anupam Kher are decent with their limited screen space. Raima Sen makes you hate her character, and that's where she wins you. I have seen Girija Oak in Marathi movies and TV serials, but the stage play showed me the kind of talent she has. Watching her nail this part in TWV was nothing short of magic. In a similar kind of role, Nivedita Bhattacharya shines as one of the leading female forces in the entire movie.

The Vaccine War is made on a small budget, so I can understand why there were so many glitches with the prosthetics and production design. The technical aspects are better, though. It's a long film, lasting about 160 minutes, but it looks pacy. Shankh Rajadhyaksha's editing is responsible for that. Some of the top views from Udaysingh Mohite are enchanting, while the rest of the cinematography is okay. Vivek Agnihotri has a bad past of Zid and Hate Story, but then he made it to the zone of The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files. I enjoy his second phase more. The Vaccine War was about to enter the safe zone but was brought down by the constructive vision of presenting the story through political lenses. I am neither interested in politics nor in propaganda; all I wanted was to watch a movie made about our scientists. He gave me that, but with many unwanted things. That's what the problem is. I wish he would go on making more brutal pieces of cinema than political speeches. I liked that Vivek Agnihotri, who would use only a few pieces of political and historical documents and make his own film. Like he did with The Tashkent Files and somewhat with The Kashmir Files too. The Vaccine War fell clearly short, and I am not sure whether to blame him or the time.

RATING - 4/10*