Vivek Agnihotri Shares People Warned Him Against Working With Nana Patekar In The Vaccine War: 'Wo Maar Deta Hai Directors Ko...'

Vivek Agnihotri shared how he convinced Nana Patekar to sign for the upcoming bio-science film 'The Vaccine War'.

New Delhi: Vivek Agnihotri's new movie, 'The Vaccine War', is almost ready to hit theatres. The film's trailer, which premiered on Tuesday, promotes it as "India's first-ever Bio-science film." The film acknowledges the hard work of the medical community and scientists during the uncertain periods of the COVID-19 epidemic. In an exclusive chat with ABPLive, director Vivek Agnihotri talked a lot about the movie and how he got Nana Patekar to be in it. 

When asked what prompted him to choose a topic like ‘vaccine’ and ‘coronavirus’, Vivek Agnihotri said, “I believe that it was one of the greatest scientific achievements of Indian scientists. So, I thought this story must be told.”

Vivek Agnihotri shared how he convinced Nana Patekar to sign for his film. Talking about how difficult it was to approach Nana, Vivek Agnihotri said, “Nana is a very difficult person to convince. In the last four or five years, he hasn't done any mainstream film. But, I was willing and everybody told me not to work with Nana, ‘wo maar deta hai directors ko, gaali dedeta hai’. (He beats directors and abuses them). So, I met him and I said ‘Aap mujhe maar dena par kaam acha karna’ (You can kill me, but do a good job).”

He added, “He's a wonderful person to work with. He’s so passionate about his work and that's why people feel a little awkward because in Bollywood generally, people are not passionate about their work. So it's very difficult to work with passionate people and dedicated people. It was one of the finest experiences of my life to work with Nana.”

The director also answered how he wants the audience to react to the 'The Vaccine War'. He said, “I think the audience should react positively because it's your story. It’s not my film - it's about you, your mother, your sister. It's about how we made this fantastic world's fastest indigenous vaccine and I think every family should see it with their children.”

There have been successful pre-release screenings of 'The Vaccine War' in the United States. The Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri-directed film will be released in theatres on September 28, 2023. The film will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.