“12th Fail” set a new record for OTT: ’12th Fail’ directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, has started making waves since its release on OTT. The film was released on 29 December on Disney Plus Hot Star.
The interesting thing is that the film has earned amazing revenue in the first three days of its release and in such a short period, the film has also won the title of the most viewed film of the year.
The collection of this film was also excellent. According to Sacnilk, this film made for 20 crores has earned 66.5 crores worldwide. Vikrant Massey plays the role of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma in the film.
Gaurav Banerjee, Content Head, Disney Plus Hotstar, in an interview with LiveMint, said that the film is performing very well. Within three days, this film has become the most-viewed film of 2023.
Banerjee added, “We are astounded at the depth to which our audience is immersing themselves in the film and engaging with it. The story has also been presented well.’ In this interview, he has also praised Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s direction.
There was no special promotion of the film before its theatrical release. The movie got a lot of publicity through word-of-mouth, and the audience gradually started coming to the theaters to watch the movie. At the same time, the film was also released in very limited theaters.
The film was released in only 600 screens. Now after its release on OTT, the film has reached more and more viewers.
Story
The story of the film starts with Manoj, a common boy living in Chambal, who is living his life like the common boys of the village. Manoj’s father is very honest, due to which he is suspended. The family is struggling with poverty.
Manoj, a boy from this small village, has only one dream somehow after passing 12th, he gets the job of a peon. But in the meantime, he meets a PCS officer, whose honesty impresses him so much that the direction of his life changes.
For the first time in his life, someone tells him that cheating is not a good thing. He ties that thing into a knot.
But Manoj fails in the 12th exam. In the second attempt, he passes third-division graduates and leaves for Gwalior to do PCS with his grandmother’s entire savings.
But Manoj’s life was determined to test him, and his journey becomes extremely difficult and he comes to Delhi, where he prepares for the Union Public Service Commission. But will he be able to fulfill his dream of becoming an officer or will he lose in front of life? This film answers this question.
Casting
In November 2022, Vidhu Chopra announced that actor Vikrant Massey would play the lead role in the film, while UPSC coaching professor Vikas Divyakirti was selected to play himself on screen. And this is how many real-life UPSC aspirants got selected for various roles. According to Massey, this move added “authenticity” to the film.
Shooting
The film was mainly shot at various locations in Agra Chambal, Delhi, Mussoorie, and Mumbai and a major portion of the film was shot at two education centers for government job aspirants, Rajendra Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar. The entire filming was completed in December 2022.
12th Fail Movie Review
At a time when Bollywood is considering South’s films like Pushpa and KGF as ideals to reinvent the heroes of its films, producer-director Vidhu Vinod Chopra has said that there is no need to go anywhere. Our heroes are nearby.
12th Fail is a biopic film, the story of IPS Anurag Pathak. Which is based on his bestseller book of the same name. In which, a boy from the Chambal area, famous for the rebels growing up in its ravines, who failed in 12th, comes to Delhi, passes the UPSC exam, and becomes a police officer.
This film of Vidhu Vinod Chopra, like the films made earlier under his banner like Munna Bhai MBBS and 3 Idiots, talks about education, people’s thinking about it, and the system somewhere in the country.
Something Different
This story starting from Chambal is different in the sense that here the hero does not pick up the gun when his honest father loses his job and the local leader snatches away his and his brother’s livelihood. Rather, he takes inspiration from an honest police officer (Priyanshu Chatterjee).
He decides that he will go to Delhi to study and become a police officer. Although love story and friendship also play an important role in this story, before that the writer-director shows you the life struggle of the children preparing for the UPSC exam in Delhi, their survival and dreams being broken or fulfilled. Vidhu Vinod Chopra has created the entire atmosphere beautifully.
Matter of Medium
When the story of the film moves beyond the awakening of consciousness of Chambal and its main character Manoj Kumar Sharma (Vikrant Massey) and comes into the realm of UPSC, the director comes up with a big issue.
That is the thinking of common people and the system. Difference between Hindi medium and English medium. Even in the era of Amrit Kaal going on in the country, it is deeply rooted that only those who know English can pass an examination like UPSC.
Those who speak Hindi or other regional languages are backward. But this is where the director has incorporated former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s poem Haar Nahi Manunga, Rar Nahi Thanunga into the character of the hero. Chopra has also taken full care of the nuances of different stages of the examination.
Something to Realize
12th Fail is certainly an inspiring story, but it also entertains. After watching the movie you wake up thinking something. Even if you think that nothing is impossible, the difficult journey to reach the pinnacle of success is also visible here.
Which squeezes the person at the physical, mental, and emotional level. In the film, the hero’s work day and night in a flour mill while preparing for UPSC only indicates his grind between the stones. This shows how difficult it is to pass this test. Especially young audiences should watch this film. It can teach them many things.
Character Situation
Vikrant Massey is successful in the role of Manoj Kumar Sharma. There are different shades in his character. On one hand, he has come from a place where exams are passed through cheating in the name of studies.
On the other hand, in Delhi, people work in libraries and flour mills to prepare for the UPSC exam. 14 hours of work, six hours of study, and four hours of sleep.
Then the worry of mother and family in the village. No money in the pocket. In between all this, studies and exams. Vikrant has adapted himself to all these situations with full dedication.
Medha Shankar as his girlfriend, Anantvijay Joshi as his friend, Anshuman Pushkar who has tried to pass the UPSC exam several times, and Priyanshu Chatterjee, the police officer who becomes his inspiration, have played their roles convincingly.
Different From All
The story of the film seems simple, but it was not easy to handle it smoothly. Vidhu Vinod Chopra keeps you engaged in the film for about two and a half hours. The interesting thing is that the film is completely different from his earlier films.
There is neither an underworld here nor a love story like boats floating on lakes. 12th Fail stands on the ground of solid reality. At a time when Bollywood is looking for stories with grand sets, VFX, fantasy, and Baahubali heroes, Vidhu Vinod Chopra secretly tells us what kind of films we need.
Director | Vidhu Vinod Chopra |
Writers | Vidhu Vinod Chopra Jaskunwar Kohli Anurag Pathak Aayush Saxena |
Cast | Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Anant Vijay Joshi, Ayushmann Pushkar, Priyanshu Chatterjee and more. |
IMDb Rating | 9.2/10 (More than 32k Votes) |
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