Islamabad SEPTEMBER 19 (Online): Vivek Agnihotri received praise for his film The Vaccine War depicting the development of the Covaxin vaccine. Sudha Murty called it a ‘heart-touching’ tale.
The trailer for Vivek Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War was released by the producers last week. On Tuesday, the filmmaker took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a video of author-educator Sudha Murty from a screening of the film. In the clip, Sudha Murty lauded Vivek Agnihotri for telling the story of the development of Covaxin, and also recalled her life as a working woman.
Sudha Murty at the screening of The Vaccine War with Pallavi Joshi and Vivek Agnihotri.
Vivek Agnihotri shares video of Sudha Murty’s speech
Starring Nana Patekar and Pallavi Joshi, The Vaccine War follows a team of Indian scientists as they develop an indigenous and affordable Covid-19 vaccine. The film will hit theatres on September 28. Speaking about the film, Sudha Murty said, “It is really heart-touching. I do understand the role of a woman because she is a mother, she is a wife and she is also a career person. It is all very hard to balance, from my own experience, your family and your work. But some people are fortunate; like in my case my parents were downstairs and I lived upstairs, so I could do better. And all these women (in The Vaccine War) did not have that.”
She further said, “It is not easy for a woman to do well in her career with her children. She requires good family support. I always say that behind every successful woman, there is an understanding man, otherwise she can’t do it… In this film, the children were small but they will be proud of their mother and what she has done. For a common person, they will not understand what is Covaxin, but this movie really shows the effort and the selfless work that all scientists did so that we all can live in a democratic India, happily and healthily. That is a very important message, I realised.”
Sudha Murty laudes Vivek Agnihotri
Sudha further spoke about the film, and said that with his upcoming film, Vivek Agnihotri has shown that ‘the real wealth is in your confidence’. She asked all Indians to ‘unleash their potential’, while being ethical and hardworking. “Be proud that you are Indian. Be proud that you are Bhartiya,” Sudha added.
She said, “For thousands of years we have been slaves, so we have lost our identity, our courage, our capacity. We have tremendous potential and it is not unleashed because we are always worried we will not be able to do it. Many people say, ‘We can’t do’. But we can do (pointing to the film’s poster). Not only in the medical field, but in any field. You should believe in yourself – the beauty in not in the dress or the money or the makeup. Your beauty is in your courage, in your confidence… If you have self belief, that is the real beauty, the real money. You (Vivek Agnihotri) have shown here (The Vaccine War) that the real wealth is in your confidence.”
About Vivek Agnihotri
He is known for directing The Tashkent Files (2019) and The Kashmir Files (2022) in recent years. Both films were commercial successes despite criticism of pushing contentious narratives. In the 69th National Film Awards announced last month, The Kashmir Files was awarded the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.
About The Vaccine War
The film is based on the true story of the development of Covaxin (BBV152), a coronavirus vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the National Institute of Virology and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
In the film, Nana Patekar plays the head scientist leading this race against time, while Pallavi Joshi portrays his second-in-command. Raima Sen is seen as a journalist spinning a ‘narrative’ to discredit India’s efforts and promote foreign vaccines. Anupam Kher appears in the film as the Prime Minister.
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