The pharma sector’s relentless lobbying for a favourable policy environment globally has achieved massive proportions as the world reels under the severe impact of Covid-19. The reply to the state government of Punjab by Moderna expressing refusal to deal with the state government is a classic example of the pharma sector making hay while the masses die. In India, health is a state subject and the second wave of the virus has already put immense pressure on central and state agencies. Several state governments have already floated global tenders to procure vaccines and companies like Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson were expected to pitch in. Unfortunately, India, despite being called the pharmacy of the world, is facing stiff resistance from the international lobby looking to sweeten the deal in troubled times. Encashing the misery of others is what these global MNC’s have mastered and are replicating their tactics with Modi Government.

The international pharma lobby ever since the outbreak of the virus has flexed its lobbying muscle to squeeze the maximum out of the situation. In many countries, they have already got away with it. Recent protests and campaign in the US focused on the proposal by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to keep its Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of IPRs, known as TRIPS, in abeyance till the pandemic is vanquished. As the Biden Administration considers a prudent course to wipe out the virus from the face of the earth, pharma lobbyists across the Democratic and Republican party are working overtime to scuttle any possibility of a deal. The reason being cited is the stifling of innovation that such waivers will result in. In general, that’s a valid argument unless you are fighting a once-in-a-century virus causing mayhem across the world and mutating quickly. God forbid if the mutations in future make the current vaccines ineffective, the developed world despite its vaccinated population will find itself in a fresh wave of trouble and pharma MNC’s may cheer at the prospect of more profits.

Meanwhile, Pfizer is already pressuring Latin American governments to change their laws to protect its vaccine against liability clauses. The crux of their concerns with the Modi government lies in the indemnity bond which they seek before supplying the vaccine. Pfizer has already indicated last month that they intend to supply vaccine only through government channels and the latest reply to Punjab by Moderna is a sign of things to come for various State Government tenders. 

The impasse on indemnity bond isn’t an easy dilemma. Large Multinationals like Pfizer and Moderna have already breached the impasse in Western countries like the USA and UK and are vying for the same in India. A generous lobbying budget combined with desperate times ensures that government resistance withers away from the pressure. Modi government to date has not given any manufacturer of Covid-19 vaccine legal protection against costs of compensation for severe side effects. The indemnity bond which Pfizer seeks will enable Pfizer to sell vaccine without patients having the right to challenge them in the court of law. In essence, the Centre will be responsible for any adverse effect while these MNC’s reap the profits. 

The Modi Government’s insistence on a local trial for vaccine approval is another area of concern. Given that Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are already in the mass market globally and proven safe outside of the lab environment, the Modi Government may consider doing away with a bridging trial. In doing so, the Modi government may repose faith in the fact that millions of people have already been inoculated in various parts of the world and are safe. Moreover, the fast track approvals which Modi government had pledged these Pharma MNC’s may come to nought unless the local trials are waived off. The Pharma MNC’s have a point when it comes to hesitation on conducting local trials of a vaccine already administered to millions.

In essence, the fate of global tenders floated by various state governments is going to be stuck in indemnity bond which the MNC’s seek. At present, only a small percentage of the Indian population is inoculated. State Government’s are facing an acute shortage of vaccines and millions of lives are at stake. Companies like Pfizer are already holding Latin American governments to ransom, interfering in their legislation and even demanding military bases as a guarantee. Pfizer made Argentina pass a new law that compensates them in case of future civil lawsuits. Unhappy with the phrasing of the law, they went ahead to arm-twist further seeking an amendment to the new decree and also demanded sovereign assets as collaterals apart from putting bank reserves, military bases and embassy buildings at stake. Brazil on the other hand was asked to create a guarantee fund and deposit money in a foreign account. Argentina meanwhile unhappy with the muscle-flexing didn’t concede to which Pfizer sought international insurance. As far as the US is concerned, the PREP Act gives total immunity to companies like Moderna and Pfizer. The MNC Pharma Lobby by declining State Government orders are seeking to arm-twist Modi government to sign the bond which will absolve themselves of any liability while Indian lives may be put at risk due to their negligence. However, the Modi government is no pushover and India has its own vaccine to fall back on. The Modi government is determined to use the existing ecosystems to expand production capacity and go full-throttle with the Indian vaccine. The International Pharma Lobby is mistaken if they are under the impression that the Modi government can be coerced to make laws that secure them. Indian lives are too precious and Modi Government will go the extra mile to protect its citizens by producing vaccines on its own than bow down to a lobby.

The writer is a BJP Spokesperson and Advisor to the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis. The views expressed are personal. 

The empty main road echoes fragmentally with wails of ambulances. But this wail is different. It sounds like the wrenching away of the last thread of hope, of inexplicable suffering. It is visceral. It is human. As Covid-19 blazes through India at an unprecedented rate, almost every household has experienced that agony in some capacity. This pandemic isn’t just preying on the most vulnerable populations. So, it’s not invisible any longer.

The lexicon of the once unlucky is now a part of our daily vocabulary. As the death toll comes to weigh profoundly, it underscores the need for deep public and media scrutiny of the policy decisions regarding Covid-19 and our public health system. While we struggle to survive and breathe, it is worth wondering, is there any clarity in this catastrophe?

GETTING TO WHERE WE ARE

The number of infectious disease outbreaks has been accelerating, from HIV to Ebola to Zika. Public health experts had warned of potential pandemics and urged robust preparations since the first outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), yet Covid-19 still took large parts of the world by surprise. Globally, preparedness metrics failed to predict weaknesses —and the pandemic revealed certain fundamental deficiencies

There are few cases in which national health response capacities have been subjected to a rigorous stress test at this level. The Covid-19 pandemic response(s) were shaped by a series of insights, research findings, actions and reactions that took place amidst great uncertainty. Many of the choices made and decisions taken were highly time-sensitive — under conditions that changed unpredictably. The highest level of global alert, a PHEIC, declared by the Director-General of WHO on 30 January 2020, did not spur the worldwide response it should have. Neglect, indecision and confusion prevailed at the apex levels of all public health bodies. 

This deprived us of perhaps the most essential commodity of all– time, earmarking the pandemic to spread across an unprepared world and an ill-equipped India.

AN INDIA PERSPECTIVE

Pandemics, cyclones and storms are acts of nature. The state of India’s public health infrastructure — lack of access to essential medical resources, fragmentation, and aversion to cross-sectoral cooperation —are not. 

There were delays in coordinated and comprehensive action: beset by the long-standing undervaluing of health workers, acute underfunding, and an unscientific approach that denied the consequences of the pandemic. 

The pandemic exposed the gordian knot that is the healthcare system in India.

In December, as China raised the alarm, the Indian government was preoccupied with its chronic ailments of religious fundamentalism and communalism in the form of the discriminatory Citizen Amendment Bill. Fueled by mass protests between far-right Hindu nationalists who supported it, and those who saw it as another mangling of the social fabric of the country. 

India announced its nationwide lockdown eight weeks after Wuhan did. While the sheer immensity of 1.38 billion people being imposed in a nationwide lockdown dominated headlines, conversations and news reports, it served to camouflage a more catastrophic reality. 

Nevertheless, despite a decrepit and funding-starved healthcare infrastructure, the country’s ability to manage the first wave of Covid-19 appeared laudable as the U.S., Canada, and European countries faltered under the second and third waves of the pandemic. Then things went awry. The turnaround raised false hopes that the virus had side-stepped India. Spurred in part by the cavalier attitudes that the country would be spared of a second wave, we weren’t afflicted just by the virus, but also by severe disillusionment and misinformation. 

From the beginning of and even at the zenith of a national emergency, the Indian government remained focused on winning elections rather than actual governance. Amid a devolving crisis, the present Indian state has no means of ensuring critical scrutiny of the decisions that led to the current crisis. Distorted statistics prevailed, conveying a reassuring but false sense of certainty. Obfuscating the gravity of a pandemic is a dangerous path to a bigger disaster.

Now, all these decisions, policies and actions are overshadowed by the leaden smoke surging from funeral pyres that burn day and night, the gasps of breath of those with COVID-19 and the anguish of the millions who have lost their loved ones. Critical questions, such as why people are being forced to cremate family members in parking lots or on pavements, remain unanswered. 

At the individual level, the onus lies with us, more than ever before, to ask ourselves: What does it mean for a majority of our population that lacks access to food, water and primary healthcare? Do statistics convey the reality for our overburdened and under-resourced healthcare system? How much value does life hold to not even be counted as a statistic when you die? 

A CLOSER LOOK AT INDIA’S PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM 

As early as 1946, India conceived a comprehensive plan for universal healthcare for all its citizens. Unfortunately, this vision is still to attain actuality. 

At about 1.28% of its GDP, India’s spending on public health is one of the lowest globally. In a textbook illustration of market failures, financing of healthcare has continued to be dominated by regressive out-of-pocket payments.

Within its first year, the BJP reduced the health budget by around 15%, and its insurance scheme continues to be riddled with inefficiencies. An NHP in 2017 proposed raising health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP by 2025. However, where these resources will come from remains unknown. Limited funding towards the health sector compounded by low efficiencies in public spending over decades have adversely impacted the reach and quality of health services. The result is deep inequities in regional distributions of health infrastructure and personnel. 

While India has a growing private sector for health, the public sector operates at an incredible ratio of 0.008 doctors to 1,000 people. Most government health programs are implemented by accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers. Yet, they remain undervalued and underpaid. Rather than leveraging our human resources, there has been crippling neglect of adequate investment in community health workers, despite their necessity for any emergency response. 

Moreover, India not only faces a double burden of disease but is also yet to overcome many of its “older” maledictions. Despite the country’s recent history with epidemics such as SARS, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya, H1N1 and Nipah, the central government — responsible for controlling infectious disease spread — still lacks a concrete framework for disease control. 

Even today, almost 2.4 million Indians die of treatable conditions yearly. Despite having the world’s most extensive nutrition program, 25 million children remain malnourished. Tuberculosis, dengue and cholera continue to claim lives each year- disadvantaged sections invariably bear the brunt of these systemic failures. 

One can argue that even with these shortfalls, we have made progress in areas like polio eradication, maternal mortality and child survival. But this silver lining is a cost at which we cannot afford to ignore the minacious dark cloud. 

WHERE CAN WE GO FROM HERE? 

Successful country responses heeded the evolving science; they quickly mobilised, trained and reallocated their health resources and workforce. System capacities were increased, with the rapid construction of makeshift hospitals and primary care support. 

It has been proven beyond doubt that vaccinations work- they remain our single best option. A single day of lockdown costs the country more than Rs 10,000 crore. The government needs to do the math, put its political issues aside and figure out how to vaccinate at least 51 crore people, and fast. 

Currently, the reach and extent of primary care facilities offer key opportunities. If effectively leveraged they play a crucial role in promoting and delivering Covid-19 vaccinations, reduce wait times, and alleviate patient volumes at hospitals. 

Capacity building of ASHAS, ANMs and Anganwadi workers is needed to ensure continued access to essential services, especially for women. They can assist in the provision of preventative services and help build trust in vaccines and the health system through their grassroots networks. They could aid the design of an equitable Covid-19 vaccination strategy by fortifying existing systems like the AB-PMJAY.  

The government launched the Arogya Setu mobile app (CoWin portal) for contact tracing and symptom mapping. This has the potential to be expanded for scheduling routine and timely access to care. It can be leveraged as an important starting point to build data for information systems and disease registries.

Encouraging electronic health records and synchronising existing reporting systems across health facilities—including the private sector—remains a key feature of any health reform strategy. The IDSP needs to be transformed to expand its coverage and data reporting quality.

Enabling a level of self-management at home through a streamlined, accurate and comprehensive health communication strategy will be helpful from both infection control and operations perspectives. 

 However, these responses remain stop-gap arrangements that may only temporarily bolster the response. The diversion of resources from other essential health services (like maternal and child health) will have long-term repercussions. 

The way forward is not abandoning the system that has been emerging out of the NRHM/NHM, but strengthening it through sustained support in technical, financial and functional capacities at regional and national levels. We need to build health infrastructure that is effective and equitable, with increased accessibility and responsiveness. We need greater investment in our public health system to achieve Universal Health Coverage and to ensure system preparedness to withstand future health emergencies.  

A genuine change in our public health system is long due. We simply cannot afford the human toll to return to the status quo. 

AS WE ARE NOW: TOGETHER, APART. 

Covid-19 has torn child from parents, husband from wife, grandparent from a grandchild. On stretchers, in car-parks, in corridors, tethered to ventilators, gasping for oxygen, sequestered in their suffering, hundreds of thousands of patients face death’s vicinage alone. This particular cruelty of Covid-19 shatters a fundamentally primal need. 

Across cultures and geographical boundaries, what we crave in extremis is unvarying—an antidote to our fear and pain- the comfort of familiarity, a hand that says hold on. With Covid-19, suffering and death occur in a harsh world of absences with families sundered and the sick marooned. 

It is important to recognise that many of these deaths could have been prevented, and many lives saved. Unfortunately, this is not a novel narrative for India. We have all known of the profound deficiencies and fragilities in our health system, but it was a reality many of us chose to vaccinate ourselves against for too long. 

Frontline workers have been our soldiers on the ground in this Covid war. With no time to grieve, often lacking PPE, they have witnessed this pain every minute. As cases and deaths shatter records, foreshadowing what might be one of the deadliest times in our country’s history, the weight of this pandemic has its own share of trauma for them: the indiscriminate path of the virus, burdened by the lives they had to choose to save, with limited resources. An indelible mark will be left. 

Civil society has come together in this time of crisis. This reaffirms empathy for suffering that may not be our own. It emphasises the indomitable human spirit that galvanises us to fight for a tomorrow to abate the pain and agony experienced today. That is the true silver lining; that is the clarity in this catastrophe. 

We need continued collective action by civil society more than ever to promote behavioural changes that reduce the transmission of Covid-19, to share food, water, medication and other necessities with those suffering most. Right now, we are doing that in a way that reveals enormous dedication, tenacity and resolve. 

We must realise that we have the power to demand changes from the systems responsible for serving us. Most importantly, perhaps, Covid-19 has made us reacquaint ourselves with the value of us: the individual, the community, the country. Never again, at the time when people need each other most, can we allow a disease to pry us apart. We must remember that right now, even when we are torn — we still can be together, apart

The writer is a Communications Consultant for Public Health (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation & William J Clinton Foundation). The views expressed are personal.

WASHINGTON: The United States and China have taken sharply opposing positions over how to trace the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, as Washington calls for a new round of studies to be conducted with independent international experts. On the other hand, Beijing told an annual gathering of the WHO’s decision-making body that it considered the investigation in China to be complete and that the attention should now be focused on other countries, reported The Wall Street Journal.

In March this year, the WHO and China published a joint inquiry on the virus origins, which did not conclusively establish how or when the virus began spreading and did little to address Western concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bent the investigation to its advantage. The WHO report determined that the possibility the virus came from a lab was “extremely unlikely,” noting there was “no record” any lab had closely related viruses. China refused to give raw data on early Covid-19 cases to the WHO-led team probing the origins of the pandemic. Beijing has been accused of delaying access to international investigators for months after the initial outbreak, virtually guaranteeing that the lab had been deep-cleaned before any forensic analysis could be done.

Andy Slavitt, the White House senior adviser for the Covid-19 response, said that a deeper inquiry into the pandemic’s origins is a critical priority for the US. “We need to get to the bottom of this and we need a completely transparent process from China. We need the WHO to assist in that matter. We don’t feel like we have that now,” he said. However, these efforts are up against a push by China to have the WHO focus the probe into other countries, claiming that the virus may have originated elsewhere. “Given the relationship between China and the US, there’s a negligible chance that the Chinese would capitulate to US requests for a full and independent investigation.,” said Lawrence Gostin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, reported The Wall Street Journal. The WHO is expected to restudy the “dominant theory” that the SARS-CoV-2 probably originated and spread across the world from China’s Wuhan lab. 

Eighteen months since China reported the first patient with Covid-19 like symptoms, the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread like wildfire over the world claiming the lives of over 35 lakh people and infecting over 16.8 crore in over 180 countries. Amid all this, the mystery around the origin of the virus has remained far from resolved. 

The virus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan and since then China has been chided for its lack of transparency. In the absence of any evidence, several theories for the origin of the virus were put forward. Among them, a few possibilities, such as the theory which said that the virus originated in nature, have received more traction than others. Meanwhile, other theories raised questions on China’s intentions and handling of the dangerous virus. These include possibilities of an accidental leak of the Covid-19 virus from a Wuhan lab and Beijing deliberately manufacturing the virus as a bioweapon. Now, calls for a fresh investigation into the origin of the virus have brought the matter to the fore. In recent months, the idea that the virus emerging from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) has gained new credence.

Speaking to ANI, Nicholas Wade, a former science writer and editor for the New York Times said that, in his view, the escape scenario provides a better explanation for the available facts than does the natural emergence scenario. Developments in recent weeks have turned the media’s focus around the lab in Wuhan namely Wuhan Institute of Virology. Wade suggested that member countries of the WHO at the 74th World Health Assembly should politely ask “China to unseal the records of the WIV and other virology labs in Wuhan.”

Addressing the WHO’s main annual meeting of member states, the United States and other countries called on Tuesday for a more in-depth investigation of the pandemic origins after an international mission to China earlier this year proved inconclusive. Australia, Japan and Portugal were among other countries to call for more progress on the investigation, while the British representative urged for any probe to be “timely, expert-driven and grounded in robust science”.

A few days ago, an article was published in the Wall Street Journal which revealed that three researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill in November 2019 and had to be hospitalised. The report was based on previously undisclosed US intelligence. The researchers were admitted into the hospital a month before China reported the first case of Covid-19.

The revelation has sparked debate and raised questions about whether China knew of the deadly virus way before it apprised the world. Wade said that if the reports are true it shows that the pandemic started several weeks earlier than the given by the Chinese authorities. “The importance of the report, if true, is that it shows the pandemic started several weeks earlier than the date given by the Chinese authorities, and therefore that the Chinese had longer to prepare for it. Had they shared this information with the rest of the world, many lives could perhaps have been saved,” he said in an email interview.

Recently, Wade published an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists where he argues that evidence is stronger than the virus leaked from a lab than that it occurred naturally. “For the lab escape scenario, a Wuhan origin for the virus is a no-brainer. Wuhan is home to China’s leading centre of coronavirus research where researchers were genetically engineering bat coronaviruses to attack human cells. They were doing so under the minimal safety conditions of a BSL2 lab. If a virus with the unexpected infectiousness of SARS2 had been generated there, its escape would be no surprise,” he said. Wade also talked about lack of access to evidence from the Wuhan Institute of Virology or related labs in Wuhan.

Bernard Roizman, a University of Chicago virologist told WSJ: “I’m convinced that what happened is that the virus was brought to a lab, they started to work with it…and some sloppy individual brought it out,” said ..”They can’t admit they did something so stupid.”

Another head-turning development that shocked experts and scientists was the report in an Australian daily which revealed that Chinese scientists were thinking about bioweapons, visualising a World War-III scenario. The Weekend Australian newspaper cited a Chinese government document that discussed the weaponisation of SARS coronavirus.

Titled the Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons, the 2015 paper was authored by Chinese scientists, Chinese public health officials and members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). 

Arpita Mehta, who won the most glamorous designer of the year in her graduating fashion show from S.N.D.T. University in Mumbai is a very talented young Indian fashion designer. She started her own label in the year 2007 after working under renowned fashion designer Manish Malhotra for two years. Now she has her own studio in Juhu, Mumbai. Arpita recently joined NewsX for an exclusive interview for NewsX India A-List talking not only about how her journey started but her contributions to the pandemic situation as well.

Starting with her journey from school days Arpita told us, “To be honest I was an absolute nerd in school and was a hardworking student. But when the big question came about what I wanted to do next, I was really perplexed and I remember my parent’s reaction to fashion they were very surprised. Ten years ago people didn’t see fashion the way they see it now, so at that point of time it took me a while to convince them but I went ahead and studied fashion at S.N.D.T. University, Mumbai. After completing the three year course from the institute, I worked with the designer for 2 years and after that I launched my own label.”

With perseverance and knack for detailing, she debuted at the Lakmé India Fashion Week Winter/Festive ’13, showcasing her very first collection, ‘Violet Garden’ that featured unique digital prints embellished with intricate mirror work detailing. And there has been no turning back since. Today, Arpita’s illustrious clientele include industrialists, fashion industry stalwarts and celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Sonam Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Alia Bhatt, to name a few.

“It was not immediately that I launched my own label, it took me a few years and more years for me to figure out what I want to do and how I want to do it. I had no contacts in the field of fashion to help me. I started from absolutely scratch and finding my own team of workers. The beginning years were complete struggles and mistakes that I made but I feel that something that helped me to decide upon what I wanted to do, what my brand should be about, what is the aesthetic to take forward. The struggle of starting everything from scratch made me have my own individual personality that I builded on myself and on my brand. Ten years later now, yes we are having a good time,” continued Arpita.

When asked about how she feels now after a decade in the industry and how she marked the occasion of launching her very own Flagship store, she responded, “Ten years to be honest was a very big milestone for me because even though it’s been ten years I feel we just haven’t been working for long. We launched our first Flagship store in Mumbai and as it was in 2020, we couldn’t make a big physical launch but we did do a digital launch and we did it well. The store houses all our signature style lehengas to raffle sarees to mirror jackets which everyone loves, basically everything and it’s kind of a very contemporary looking store where one can spot it from outside. Apart from launching this, we even launched a very special coffee table book which is something very dear to me and it had all the inspirations of the brand from where we all were inspired by. We did get a very few known actors from Bollywood who are also friends and well wishers of the brand to do a campaign for us. This was truly very special and once can see it online.”

Talking about her inspirations, Arpita said, “I feel constantly inspired by nature be it the sea, be it the forest or flowers. Nature is constant but even apart from that there’s always this added element that I am inspired by which keeps changing I feel every season, every three months or every six months. Inspiration comes anywhere and anytime and I feel something that always resonates with every collection that I do, be it in the form of print or embroidery. Therefore inspiration is everywhere, you just have to be active.”

When asked about her beliefs that sets her brand apart from the others, she said, “I feel very early on my brand as in me. There is this craft of mirror work which is very true to a place in Gujarat and Rajasthan and has been around for years. What we did is because I have a sentimental connection with that being a Gujarati, and it’s something I wore a lot as a child. It kind of stuck with me and I wanted to do something different and unique that no one has been doing at that time. We took this craft and we made it in a contemporary manner. We organised the craft and presented it in such a way that one could wear obviously not just in that part but people could wear from the smallest to biggest Indian functions. I feel that this identity, the kind of embroidery and the mirror work that we used is something that has stuck with the brand right from the beginning until now and I think that is something that sets us apart from the rest.”

Talking about 2020 and how she coped up personally and professionally as well, the designer said, “I feel all of 2020 and now also in 2021 there has been a mix of emotions. Some days you are feeling anxiety and some days you are feeling overwhelmed on what’s happening around and some days you feel helpless that am sitting at home. To sum it all up it has been a mix of all emotions, while you have been mentally active but physically inactive because we were all at home. But it has also given us a lot of time to reflect in our personal lives and the way we interact with other people where work is concerned or where family is concerned and I think that helped me a lot in this time to just kind of go back into the past and see where and on have we been spending our time doing all this life.”

On a concluding note, the designer shared with us about her initiative she started to help the community at large during the pandemic. “We thought of coming up with an initiative last month called ‘Wishful Wednesday’ where every Wednesday we hold a sale digitally and we reach out to all our clients all over the world. We are offering them our garments and our latest collections at a discounted price and whatever amount comes out of that sale we have been directing it towards charity. We have tied up with different NGOs who have been doing absolutely amazing work and reaching out to people who are suffering with multiple Covid issues.”

“I just felt that was the way for us to give back to our country because you know it feels helpless and therefore we thought of taking this initiative where everyone comes in together and try to do their level best on whatever they can. It’s been amazing, the responses have been overwhelming and you feel amazing about the fact that so many people have come forward,” added Arpita.

Tanuj Virwani is an Indian actor and model and has won a lot of accolades for his role in “The Tattoo Murders” on Disney+Hotstar and yet again he packed with a powerful role as ACP Aditya in “Murder Meri Jaan” streaming on Disney + Hotstar alongside Barkha Singh. Along with being an actor he has shown a keen interest in direction and writing and has made several socially relevant short films. Tanuj recently joined NewsX for an exclusive interview as part of NewsX India A-List and talked about how his current projects and roles in it and how the pandemic has been affecting him.

When asked about what convinced the director and also him to do the role in his recent film ‘Tattoo Murders’, Tanuj sjared with us, “If you propose that question in front of our director Shravan sir maybe he will ask what convinced Tanuj to do the role. It was sort of a perfect role because I think I was also itching to do something different. Since I have started getting work, I have been offered an array of roles such as after Inside Edge and been offered roles. It was more like urban in the treatment of how those characters lived, and I specifically felt that with the character of Prabhat Pratap on Tattoo Murders, it offered me the chance to do something drastically different and I like to experiment.”

“On this particular project, I did not have the sort of pressure to carry a shoot but I was okay to try something different because sometimes you will pass with flying colours and audience will really embrace it or sometimes just mixed reactions. But if you don’t try, if you don’t take that first step into the water you will never know whether you can sink or swim. I think the OTT platform also largely should be credited because it really gives us as actors a lot more scope for experimentation, shoots and even films.”

When asked about how appealing the role was to him, the actor replied, “Absolutely, the one thing I am happy having seeing the show entirely is that, our director who is also one of the writers on the show was kind of able to read it in the authenticity that was present in the writing. Many times what happens is that things get lost in translation, you might read a script and whereas the whole story may really appeal to you but when you see the way it’s finally done on the screen executed very differently. In this particular case, I feel Shravan sir has done an excellent job of maintaining the authenticity and it’s very raw and very edgy because there’s no sex involved in fact a lot of project was involved shooting at real life which I think will be impossible during pandemic but we finished shooting just before Covid has hit.”

When asked about his success with digital platforms, Tanuj said, “I think just the visibility of what OTT platform offers to actors like myself and many others in my position is insane. I still remember when I was signed on ‘Inside Edge’ and we were shooting back in 2016, a lot of us were very cautiously optimistic that we know we are making something cool and interesting but no one could have in their wildest dreams thought like the impact it could have. Today when you look at the entire landscape of entertainment in our country it has just shifted so dramatically and has given birth to so many wonderful actors and I consider myself very fortunate that I am an active actor at this point of my career who is getting these opportunities. I am just so glad that I listened to my instincts and it has given me even more confidence on going ahead to trust my instincts.”

While talking about his next upcoming movie, the actor shared with us and said, “The line up seems to be very solid right now so I believe my next release would be a show called Tandoor which is based on Tandoor murder case that happened in Delhi in 1995 and I am actually portraying the role of the person who was responsible for it and it’s a miracle to get that on Covid situation. I have got another show coming up with Barkha Singh so I am really looking forward to it as it has given me another opportunity to do other works. There is one upcoming project which I am really passionate about with the mafia in Bombay city because it’s again a very different kind of project.”

When asked how the actor himself has adjusted to the pandemic situation, Tanuj revealed, “Everybody collectively put our guards down and we are in probably worst situation than from last year. I would like to say is what we all have been redirecting for last one year about social distancing, sanitisation and wearing masks and hence I request viewers to take of themselves and others around especially who are vulnerable. It has been frustrating for me also but when ever I put on television I consider myself extremely fortunate and grateful to be in the position that I am and there is so much to look forward to in life and I am sure few years from now when we will look back at this asas learning curve thinking and how we lived through it and we survived.”