New Delhi: Director Vivek Agnihotri’s latest film 'The Vaccine War' was hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his latest speech in Jodhpur. PM Modi praised the makers of 'The Vaccine War' for their efforts in emphasizing the vital role of scientists and science in addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Modi said in Hindi, “I have heard that a film called The Vaccine War has been released, which depicts the relentless efforts of our country's scientists who worked day and night, dedicating themselves to the cause of fighting COVID in their labs, like sages. Even our female scientists have worked so wonderfully. In this film, all these aspects have been portrayed. Indians are filled with pride after watching the film, knowing what our scientists have done. I congratulate the makers of this film for highlighting the importance of scientists and science,” he added.
Director Vivek replied to the PM through his tweet that read, “It’s heartening to hear PM @narendramodi acknowledge the contribution of Indian scientists, specially women scientists in making the indigenous vaccine under his leadership. Women scientists called and got emotional ‘first time a PM praised Virologists’ they said. GRATITUDE.”
'The Vaccine War' features Nana Patekar, Sapthami Gowda, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher and Pallavi Joshi in lead roles. The film has been underperforming at the box office and has collected Rs 8.15 crore till now.
Vivek spoke about the low box office numbers of the film in a conversation with Koimoi and said, “If in a new bookshop, you decide to sell only two books. You keep Playboy and Bhagavad Gita, then you will see for yourself that which book sells more? If 1000 Playboy copies are sold and only 10 copies of Gita are sold, so will you say that Gita is a flop?”
The film, released on September 28, talks about the scientists pivotal in developing the indigenous BBV152 vaccine, commonly known as Covaxin.