MUMBAI:  Actor Anupam Kher is gearing up for the release of the new Vivek Agnihotri directorial ‘The Vaccine War’, where he will be essaying the role of a cabinet secretary in a special appearance, overlooking the production of Covaxin by ICMR during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

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Taking to his X, the actor wrote: “THE VACCINE WAR: “Bharat’s self belief is Sanatan Dharma.”

Describing his own role, Anupam Kher continued: “When @vivekagnihotri was making #TheVaccineWar there wasn’t any substantial role for me in it. It is primarily a women scientists film with the only male lead being played by the great #NanaPatekar !”

“I wanted to be associated with this most important film of our times where #IndiaCanDoIt is the theme. Vivek offered me the role of the #CabinetSecretary as a special appearance! Proud to be part of this gem of a film. Releasing on 28th Sept worldwide! Hail women power, Jai Ho!”

He also posted a short sneak peek into his appearance as the Cabinet Secretary where he could be heard saying: “Now that once again the enemies of India are trying to break the country from within, it is up to us how we act. Do we let ourselves be blackmailed into submission, or do we believe in ourselves and become self-dependent (Atmanirbhar).”

“With great caution, speed, vigilance and patience, we must bring 6,000 Indians back for testing. This self-belief in itself is Sanatan (eternal).”

At the end, Nana Patekar who essays the role of the main scientist in the film can be heard saying: “Sir we have got our first case. We have to report it to the PM.” After listening to this, Anupam Kher gets up from his chair and walks out.

Donning a very convincing attire of an actual Cabinet Secretary, the actor has splendidly nailed the appearance as it looks extremely real.

Kher’s use of the word ‘Sanatan’ also comes in the wake of the controversy created by the DMK politician Udhayanidhi Stalin’s derogatory comments on Sanatan Dharma.

The primary focus of ‘The Vaccine War’ will be Nana Patekar’s team manufacturing the vaccine amidst great pressure, as well as the increasingly negative publicity of the media due to their own political convictions and motives all the while his team is pushing forward the motto of ‘India can do it’. As such, one of the movie’s points is the indigenous production of the vaccine and the motto of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

The negative role of a certain section of the media is a big focal point of the movie as some quarters had raised many doubts about the quality of the Indian vaccine, preferring the import of Western vaccines.

Apart from the whole ‘Make in India’ and ‘India can do it’ theme of the film, Agnihotri had said that woman power or ‘naari shakti’ was a huge part of the film because according to his research, over 60 per cent of the scientists involved in the project were women, something which he decided to later highlight.

‘The Vaccine War’ is slated to release on September 28, 2023 and stars Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi, Anupam Kher, Sapthami Gowda, Raima Sen, Girja Oak, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Mohan Kapur and Vivek Prabhakar.

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The movie pays tribute to the medical fraternity of scientists and doctors who manufactured the vaccine under the worst circumstances and succeeded, showing the immense pressure they were under and the many difficulties they faced.

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Credits - koimoi