VIRUS ON SCREEN

Never has the demand for pandemic-themed films and web series been as high as it is now

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

It seemed to be nothing less than a freakish coincidence that Netflix’s terrifying docuseries, Pandemic, which revolves around the global spread of a killer virus, premiered in January, just as the novel coronavirus was beginning its rampage across the world. It was almost as if the six-episode series, which follows doctors and researchers on the frontlines of the battle against influenza, issued a clairvoyant call alerting the world about the risk of a new global virus.

The real-life resemblance is stark when, minutes into the first episode, infectious diseases expert Syra Madad lays out a hypothetical situation in which a traveller arriving at the New York airport triggers the spread of a deadly virus which could paralyse the entire city in a matter of days. Or when Dr Dennis Carroll, director of the Emerging Threats Unit of the US Agency for International Development says, “It is a guarantee that another version of that killer flu (referring to the Spanish flu of 1918) will reappear.”

Never has the demand for pandemic-themed films and web series been as high as it is now. Even as scientists and researchers race against time to find a Covid-19 vaccine, experts say there has been an upsurge in the demand, production and consumption of pandemic-themed films and web series. Cooped up in their homes, it seems viewers are hungry for a glimpse into the dark world of pathogens.