Shot during the lockdown, a documentary, COVID-19: India’s War Against The Virus, captures key moments and developments that shaped India’s fight against the pandemic

The pandemic has impacted almost all of us in innumerable ways. Each one of us now have a story to share, especially the ones who are the forefront, fighting the deadly virus. Shot during the period of lockdown, a documentary, COVID-19: India’s War Against The Virus, traverses across the nation mapping the pandemic and telling the story through interviews with subject matter experts, front line workers, patients, migrant workers, and others working tirelessly behind the scenes to arrest the spread of this deadly disease.

It provides a glimpse into all the key steps being taken across the country to battle the Coronavirus pandemic. The documentary follows both, the global and the Indian timeline, of how the virus spread and the key developments that have taken place ever since India’s first Coronavirus victim was detected in Kerala.

The film will also shed light on the innovations and the way technology is being used to combat the virus. The Hindi voiceover for which will be provided by Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee and the Tamil voiceover by writer, director, actor Gautham Vasudev Menon. 

It features scientists, doctors, ministers and government officials on the forefront of the Coronavirus battle including: Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Government of India, K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Bill Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, World Health Organisation, South-East Asia Region, Satyendra Jain, Health Minister, Government of Delhi, K K Shailaja, Health Minister, Government of Kerala, Rajesh Tope, Health Minister, Government of Maharashtra, Economist Arun Kumar, Dr Rajesh Malhotra, Chief, AIIMS Trauma Centre, Delhi, Dr Atanu Basu, Deputy Director, National Institute of Virology, Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin, Chairperson, Delhi COVID-19 Task Force, Journalist Sanket Upadhyay, along with Sonu Sood, the Bollywood actor who has extensively worked on ground to help the migrant workers during the pandemic.

“Meaningful cinema and projects have always endeared me, and I believe specials like COVID-19 India’s War Against The Virus, are relevant not just for today but will continue to engage our future generations as well,” said Bajpayee. “This is an important story and needs to be told in an impactful manner. I target to bring all my experience into play for the narration in Hindi.”

“The fact that we all have been directly impacted by the pandemic makes this project different from others. You almost relive part of your life as the reels go by but at the same time the documentary shines light on so much that you weren’t aware of.  That is why documentaries, as an entertainment tool, in my view, will always have a special pride of place,” said, Writer-Director-Actor Gautham Vasudev Menon. “It is a valiant effort. I could not have asked for a better debut as a narrator, especially in my mother tongue Tamil, and coincidentally this marks my first documentary ever.”

“The documentary will help Indian audience understand deeper perspectives. It captures key moments, developments that shaped India’s fight against COVID over the past few months,” said, Megha Tata, Managing Director – South Asia, Discovery. “There’s more at work than what meets the eye as new challenges unfold every day with pandemic raging fire; our attempt is to bring it all together with a line-up of prominent experts and officials to provide a comprehensive view.”

The other three documentaries which explore this deadly disease include Invisible Killer, Pandemic Covid-19 and The Zoo: Covid-19 and Animals.

(The documentary, available in 7 languages, premieres on July 20 at 8 pm on Discovery Channel and Discovery Channel HD.)