I believe most of you have seen the 2023 movie “The Vaccine War.” This time, Jio Cinema presents Pill web series, an intriguing investigative thriller on the ever-lucrative pharmaceutical industry. It reveals the dark side and the truth behind the production of every life-saving drug that is launched into the market.
Pill web series very well takes you through the intricacies of an industry that is not only capital-intensive but also very technical. After all, it takes years and years of research and clinical trials before a particular medicine is made available to the general public. But one thing is for sure, the faster you innovate, the greater your market share, and a large market share would mean high profits for your company.
To achieve this economic advantage, some companies may consider taking a riskier approach, which not only jeopardises the company’s reputation but also jeopardises the well-being of the general public. Developed and the developing countries do have an inhouse mechanism to keep a check on violations, but that’s not the case with third world countries where medicines are often dumped in the name of cheaper alternatives, thereby compromising with human lives.
Pill Web series has attempted to touch the core, as to how the industry operates, but one cannot be sure how close it is to being true. Ultimately, its purpose is to provide entertainment. The following appendix contains additional information about the Pill web series.
| Details | Description |
| Genre | Investigative Thriller |
| Written by | Raj Kumar Gupta, Parveez Shaikh, Jaideep Yadav, Anagh Mukherjee |
| Directed by | Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav, Mahim Joshie |
| Starring | Riteish Deshmukh in as Dr Prakash Chouhan, Pawan Malhotra in as Brahma Gill, Akshat Chauhan in as Noor Khan, Hanish Kaushal in as Samay, Vikram Dharia in as Peon Raju, Anshul Chauhan in as Gursimran |
| Music by | Neel Adhikari |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Hindi |
| Dubbed Language | Telugu,Kannada,Bengali, Marathi,Tamil |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Executive producer | Sanaya Irani Zohrabi |
| Cinematography | Sudip Sengupta |
| Editor | Suvrangshu Sarkar |
| Running time | 339 minutes |
| IMDb Rating | 8.2/10 |
| Production company | RSVP |
| OTT Platform | Jio Cinema |
| OTT release date | 12 July 2024 |
Pill Web Series Synopsis:
The story starts with the main character, Dr. Prakash Chouhan, played by Riteish Deshmukh. He is a government employee living a very simple life with his son and wife. One fine day, he receives a call announcing his promotion and transfer to the Medicine Authority of India, Ghaziabad, the governing body for drug manufacturing in India.
On resuming duty at the new office, he was informed by his subordinates that they had conducted a surprise visit to the premises of M/s Forever Cure Pharma Company, which had to be abruptly cancelled due to non-cooperation from the dealing staff. They also confirmed that an unknown person within the company was successful in concealing a particular file from them, which was ultimately thrown into a ditch flowing beside the boundary of the factory.
From here, the story tends to get interesting. Fortunately, the file has found its way into the hands of struggling journalist Noor Khan. By the look of the file, he understood that the documents in it pertain to the medical field. So, he takes these documents to a known medical practitioner, whose body language demonstrated that there is something important about the file.
Therefore, Noor tries to convince his boss to publish the document’s findings in the daily newspaper. However, the boss ignored Noor’s request. By then, the pharmaceutical company had learned of Noor’s whereabouts. The very next moment, goons sent by the firm attacked Noor and stole the file.
Finally, Noor decides to take on the company and posted the whole story on social media. The message was read by Miss Gursimran (assistant to Dr Prakash Chouhan), and she informs Dr. Prakash about the same . The very next day, Noor Khan was called to MAI office, where he showed the officials, the soft copy of the stolen file.
The documents contained data on rejected clinical trials for a vaccine meant to cure diabetes. It also indicated that the dose was readily available for use by the general public without having obtained the required clearances. Overall, the gathered information suggested a major breach in the laid-down guidelines committed by the company for new drug issuance, which could have a detrimental effect on the health of ailing patients.
Without wasting any more time, Dr. Prakash makes a call to his senior, Mrs. Neelima Chakraborty, for approval to conduct a fresh visit to the Forever Cure plant. But she didn’t approve another visit, citing various reasons. On the other hand, news was coming in from various pockets about a reaction to diabetic medicine, with people abruptly losing their vision and, in some cases, experiencing lateral death.
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As part of its ambitious journey, Forever Cure sought a merger with a German pharmaceutical company. The German firm posed only one requirement, and that was clean business ethics. Only then would they have proceeded to complete the deal. Therefore, any unwarranted information about the firm or its products would have affected the deal’s closure.
Henceforth, the company was doing its best to shut people’s mouth, with help coming from the Chief Minister of Punjab. But since the news of medicine failure had reached various news agencies, the pharma firm was having a tough time controlling the gossip. If that was not enough, an employee from Forever Cure Ashish Khanna has detected the misconduct that was going within the company. He tried his best to blow the whistle. Sadly, he was deceitfully hooked onto something which he hasn’t done. He was later forced to go on leave and remain silent.
However, Dr. Prakash was adamant about pursuing the pharma company. For that, he took assistance of his colleague cum mentor at testing agency to conduct litmus test on the diabetic medicine. Results of the test were utterly shocking. So, the doctor called Noor Khan and asked him to visit secretly the Ekta camp and talk to people, thereby inquiring about their medical condition after clinical trials.
Simultaneously, disregarding protocol, Dr. Prakash filed a petition with the High Court, seeking court approval to urgently visit Forever Cure drug manufacturing facilities. The judge granted him approval based on the facts presented before him. The raids began immediately, collecting and bringing samples of medicines to MAI.
Regrettably, upon their return from the trip, subordination led to the immediate suspension of Dr. Prakash and his assistant. After witnessing the extreme measures taken by individuals to prevent him from revealing corporate violations, the doctor lost all faith in the system. He also feared for the lives of his colleagues, who were helping him through this journey.
The company contested the doctor’s actions in court, but a lack of evidence led to the petition’s rejection. In the meantime, Forever Cure was struggling to keep up with its market reputation, putting the German deal in jeopardy. Therefore, the chairman, Mr. Brahma Gill called an immediate meeting with his counterparts. After a lot of brainstorming, it was decided to launch the cancer-curing drug, which was still in trials, in order to boost market sentiment in favour of the company.
Some time later, Noor and Gursimran visited Dr. Prakash and confirmed their approval to move forward with the fight for justice, no matter if something happens to them. The doctor stated that the only way they can stop the company’s wrongdoings permanantly is by legally challenging them. And this time they will file a petition with the Supreme Court with all the proofs and evidence.
Ultimately, justice prevailed, resulting in a ban on Forever Cure from introducing any new medicines to the market. All the violating officials from the company and the MAI were arrested and sent to jail.
Pill Web Series Review:
Pill web series is very well written, and therefore the story is engaging. You will not find a moment to leave your seat. The episodes are medium-paced and placed sequentially. However, at certain points, the pace becomes repetitive and slow. Including the main protagonist, every single character seems to have been chosen carefully, which allowed them to do justice with their roles. The subject itself is extremely hard hitting which requires good direction and I believe, the director is successful in achieving the same. The camera work behind Pill web series is good, and therefore the scenes looks visually enchanting. The background score is appropriate and keeps with the tone of the web series.
Pill Web Series Conclusion
Anyone who loves courtroom dramas, subjects of criminal proceedings, etc. will love the series. The series offers a novel perspective on a topic that resonates with all of us. The series underscores the significance of adhering to public health ethics, a topic often overlooked in our nation. Any age group can watch the Pill web series, which provides a complete entertainment experience. So just binge this spectacular web series and do share your views in the comment section below.
For more audience reviews on Pill web series, click on the links annexed herewith:
IMDb- CLICK HERE
Reddit- CLICK HERE