12th Fail Review: A hard-hitting and motivational drama about achieving the unachievable despite failures
12th Fail Movie Rating: 4 Stars
Watched 12th Fail movie on Hotstar. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Priyanshu Chatterjee.
Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Release Date: 27th October 2023 in cinemas & 29th December 2023 on Hotstar
Story: Movie is based on the 2019 eponymous non-fiction book by Anurag Pathak about the real-life story of Manoj Kumar Sharma, IPS and Shraddha Joshi Sharma, IRS. Set in Chambal, Madhya Pradesh, Manoj Kumar Sharma (Vikrant Massey) belongs to lower middle-class family comprising his honest father Ramveer Sharma (Harish Khanna), Mother Pushpa (Geeta Aggarwal), brother, Kamlesh (Rahul Kumar), sister Rajni (Perry Chhabra) and grandmother (Sarita Joshi).
His father gets suspended for being honest in his work. He studies at a school where his headmaster encourages students to be involved in malpractice during the exams. His life changes when police officer Dushyant Singh (Priyanshu Chatterjee) tells him that if he wanted to become an IPS officer like him, he’d have to give up cheating. Inspired by his honesty, Manoj starts considering him an idol and wants to become like him.
One year later, Manoj passes his exams albeit in the third division without cheating and chooses to pursue Bachelor of Arts to become a DSP. Circumstances lead him to Delhi, where he finds work in a library. He works there during the day and reads books during the night. Later, he’s fired from there and takes to running a flour mill. He lives in a dingy room, working 14 hours a day, studying the rest of the time, going by just three hours of sleep.
In his journey, he befriends Shraddha Joshi (Medha Shankar), Pritam Pandey (Anant Vijay Joshi), Gaurinandan (Anshumaan Pushkar) and some others. Will he be able to become a DSP? Or will he end up becoming an IPS? Will he be able to succeed in the civil services exams? Or will he end up being a teacher who educates the local students of Chambal to not cheat in exams?
Positives
1. Performances
2. Climax
3. Dialogues
4. Direction
5. Screenplay
Negatives
1. Length
2. Story lacks Novelty
3. Music
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this one in cinema as well on OTT as trailer looks amazing and story is based on UPSC examination.
IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma fearlessly embraces the idea of restarting his academic journey and reclaiming his destiny at a place where millions of students attempt the world’s toughest competitive exam: UPSC.
12th Fail story inspired by Anurag Pathak’s book of the same name. Extraordinary screenplay which absolutely wins your heart. The drama moves so smoothy that it totally involves the audience and keeps them engaged. The light moments are aplenty, and they keep the viewers entertained thoroughly. Besides, the story of underdog Manoj Sharma is so heartwarming that it makes the audience root for him. The emotional undercurrent of the drama is so strong that the viewers’ hearts bleed for Manoj whenever he is on shaky ground. The weak-hearted would also shed a tear or two for Manoj. Without compromising on the entertainment quotient, director Vidhu Vinod Chopra achieves the goal of telling a hard-hitting and motivational story. The dialogues are sharp, crisp and relevant. The dose of humor is enough to keep you happy and entertained. That’s an important factor as films based on grim subjects do tend to get dark and gloomy. Some scenes that stand out are the beginning scene, Dushyant saving the life of Manoj’s brother and the subsequent conversation, Gauri bhaiya’s entry, the intermission point, Manoj meeting his father at the flour mill etc. The climax is gripping while the final scene is touching.
On the flipside, it has pacing issues as the proceedings become a tad slow at times and gets predictable too. The editing could have been crispier for higher impact. The initial few minutes of the second half were dull. The conflict point between the lead pair could have been shown in a better manner. A few developments seem convincing. The track of the love interest’s family is not exciting. Manoj lying to Shraddha is not well explained especially when he’s very truthful otherwise.
Overall, movie is not about failures but about restarting and aiming to achieve the unachievable through honesty. Watch the movie for the positive message it conveys, for its powerful story and superlative performances by Vikrant Massey and the entire cast. It marks the comeback of Vidhu Vinod Chopra as a director. It is a must-watch for the honesty shown by every department. It is motivational, inspiration but entertaining at the same time. My view on this movie Highly Recommended.
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