12th FAIL- Movie Review. Okay, so you want to know, should you watch it or not? The answer is straightforward. PLEASE GO AND WATCH 12TH FAIL. Please take the family with you: your brothers, sisters, nephew, niece, grandchildren, in-laws, spouse, anyone and everyone- even if you watch at a Multiplex where movie tickets may be at a premium or on Amazon. Trust me. They will all love it, and at least for a few hours after the movie, they will all have a different kind of feeling around them. A new-found belief, a daring to do things and a thought of believing everything is possible if you give it a real shit. Now, how far and how long this effect lasts is up to the audience and the instigator.
I trust my tears. I wept for the last 10-15 minutes. No, I can proudly say I wept. I was seeing a really well-made film, a class story-telling, a performance that pulled you in so that you start sharing and living in the protagonist’s dreams. These were tears of happiness. Happy watching someone succeed in his passion and dream- so what if it was on screen?
THE STORY.
So, there’s no point in guessing the storyline. You know it before the film starts. There is this protagonist- Mr Manoj Kumar Sharma (Vikrant Massey)– grandchild of an army man-Subedar Saheb and son of a very honest-disciplined -patriotic father. He studies in a Hindi medium school in the lawless Chambal area. And he fails in class 12th (that’s where the title comes from) because that year, they are not allowed to cheat. He passes 12th with third class- when every other student gets a first class- because he refuses to cheat!. But, an episode in his life makes him determined to become Deputy Superintendent of Police. Unfortunately, the PSC exams are cancelled for three years. This is the stage when he learns about UPSC- the bigger exam. He meets Preetum Pandey- a UPSC aspirant who really wants to be on screen- and comes to Delhi- Mukherjee Nagar- Kota factory for UPSC. There, he prepares for the exam. There is no money, no income, and more responsibilities- so he works during the day and studies during the night. Oh yes, like the last ball six- he clears the Interview in his last attempt. Maybe because, for him, it is a make-or-break part of life. There is no real plan B in his life.
NO SPOLIER FOR A BIOPIC.
Oh yes, it is a Biopic. It is based on the real story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma and IRS officer Shradha Joshi (Medha Shankar)- who plays the part of a co-aspirant and Manoj’s love focus. Yes, it is based on the book 12th Fail by Anurag. I have not read the book, and I cannot say how much creative liberty the book and the film took to keep the audience engagement high. But, if Manoj Kumar Sharma went through even 50% of what is shown ( and the understanding says he must have), it is a remarkable story and a remarkable achievement.
Manoj Kumar working in an ATTA CHAKKI is a metaphor at many levels of the grind the candidates go through while preparing for the UPSC Exams. Just like RESTART TEA STALL- started by one failed aspirant is a metaphor for recharging and going through the multiple-level test from the start.
PERFORMANCE.
I can only appreciate the director’s command and the performance of every character. The casting is brilliant. The performance -top class, very real, Very touching. Vikrant Massey delivers on the highly demanding role. Medha Shankar as Shradha Joshi matches up to Vikrant. Her role is smaller but important enough. Harish Khanna – as Ramveer – father of Vikrant, is hugely believable as an honest, determined person willing to go to any extent to fight corruption and injustice. This also adds to the audience’s belief in the very honest, determined Manoj (Vikrant).
Anant Vijay Joshi as Preetum Pandey- the person who brings Manoj Kumar to Delhi – is phenomenal as a supporting cast, as is Anshuman Pushkar as Gauri Bhaiyya- who does not make the final summit even in his 6th attempt but stands behind every aspirant low on resources and high on passion and self-belief.
PACEY COCKTAIL.
The film seems too slow in the first half, where the director takes time to slot in every piece on the chessboard of life. It picks up in the second half and slams you with one episode after another. It drags you in. The film has multiple highs that follow the lows, and the cycle continues. This should have prepared the audience for the final pleasant climax- that they always knew was in the offering. However, the internal emotional control is lost. At least I lost it. My tears were a surprised, involuntary reaction to the on-screen happening. I never knew when they started appearing.
Theoretically, after a spate of larger-than-life high-budget thrillers, spy and rebel stories on the large and the small screen, I do believe such stories will do good. They anyway do good because they make you feel good. This one is too much of a cocktail. It has traces of Kota Factory, Panchayat, 3 idiots, Zindagi Na Milagi Dobara, lagaan, 83 and more.
NETNET
If you have trusted my past reviews and have not been disappointed, just go and watch the movie. I have shared my reasons for praising and recommending it. I would also have missed it if we did not have a tradition of going to a movie in the evening on Karva Chauth so that waiting for the moon becomes a bit easier for my wife- who had been fasting Nirjal (without water).
For a change, the movie 12th Fail shows the power of the medium. How potently it can engage and involve you. You realise how the medium could be an instigator and a motivator. How the thoughts resonate in your mind, pushing you to give the things in life your best shot.
POSTSCRIPT
The only part one could not understand is how Vikrant Massey’s skin tone kept going a grade lower with every successful result in life.
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12th Fail. Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Cast: Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Harish Khanna, Sarita Joshi.
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