Vivek Agnihotri on new film 'The Vaccine War': Enemies of India will be exposed

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri on Tuesday claimed his directorial The Vaccine War will "expose the usual suspects" who tried to sabotage the development of an indigenous vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic for their political agenda.

The film, according to the director, is India's "first-ever bio-science" movie. It is based on the true story of Indian scientists in their fight against COVID-19 by developing an affordable vaccine for India and the world, he added.

The Vaccine War doesn't shy away from naming a few politicians as well as prominent journalists who promoted foreign vaccines, Agnihotri said. "At that time, it was very unfortunate that some people were selling India and our lives -- some people were getting money to promote foreign vaccines and they were trying to sabotage the Indian vaccine for their political agenda.

"The names taken are the 'usual suspects', they're always standing against anything that's in the interest of the country. So, obviously, if we're making a film called 'The Vaccine War', the enemies of India will be exposed," the director said at the trailer launch of the film here.

He said the situation during the pandemic was "war-like".

"We often think that the country's soldiers are those who take guns and fight on the border, but in this situation, there were a lot of people like Covid-frontline workers, those in administration, those flying special planes, and of course, the scientists, who were trying to protect our lives and the sovereignty of the nation," Agnihotri added.

The film stars Nana Patekar, Sapthami Gowda, Pallavi Joshi, Raima Sen, and Anupam Kher in pivotal roles.

Agnihotri, known for directing The Kashmir Files, The Tashkent Files, and Hate Story, said the film is based on "Going Viral: Making of Covaxin" by Balram Bhargava, the former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

"It's based on the book by Dr Balram Bhargava (in charge of the vaccine discovery), called 'Going Viral'. That's one part of the film, the second part is the detailed research and interviews we did.

"Every single thing you'll see, the articles and tweets are real. I've tweaked the characters' names, but when you see the film you'll understand who they are," he added.

The Vaccine War is produced by Pallavi Joshi and I Am Buddha. It will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on September 28.