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Zee Studios and Vinod Chopra Productions’ 12th Fail is the story of an underdog. Manoj Sharma (Vikrant Massey) lives in the Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh, with his lower middle-class family comprising his honest father, Ramveer Sharma (Harish Khanna), mother, Pushpa (Geeta Aggarwal), brother, Kamlesh (Rahul Kumar), sister, Rajni (Perry Chhabra; Triaksh Chhabra as the younger version) and grandmother (Sarita Joshi). 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. From there on begins Manoj’s struggle to clear the UPSC examinations and final interview. The odds are against him but Manoj works hard to overcome all the obstacles that come in his way. In his journey, he befriends Shraddha Joshi (Medha Shankar), Pritam Pandey (Anant Vijay Joshi), Gaurinandan (Anshumaan Pushkar) and some others. How he ultimately realises his dream is what the story is all about.
The film is inspired by Anurag Pathak’s book of the same name. Writers Anurag Pathak, Jaskunwar Kohli, Aayush Saxena, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and creative consultant Abhijat Joshi have written an extraordinary screenplay which absolutely wins the audience’s hearts. 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. Actually, the characterisaton of Manoj is so real and so wonderful that the audience becomes one with him in no time and from then on, they don’t want to leave him even for a second. Therefore, his little joys become theirs, his difficulties cause them pain, his victories excite them, and his failures sadden them no end. The best part of the screenplay is that it never goes overboard. Also, the writers have taken care to never get repetitive. Every scene conveys something new — and that’s no mean achievement. The dialogues, penned by the team of writers, are supremely realistic and, therefore, touch the heart at a number of places. It would not be wrong to say that the dialogues are gems.
Vikrant Massey deserves almost cent per cent marks for essaying the character of Manoj Sharma with such conviction. His acting, his body language, his diction, his dialogue delivery — they are all so outstanding that his perormance is worthy of awards. This man deserves more such substantive work in commercial cinema because he delivers with elan. He is endearing and makes such a mark with his acting that he stays with you for a long time after you’ve seen the film. Medha Shankar is lovely as Shraddha Joshi. Hers is a performance with dignity. Anant Vijay Joshi is first-rate in the role of Pritam Pandey. Anshumaan Pushkar lives the role of Gaurinandan. Geeta Aggarwal is wonderful as Manoj’s mother, Pushpa Sharma. Harish Khanna is natural to the core as Manoj’s father, Ramveer Sharma. Rahul Kumar is lovely as Manoj’s brother, Kamlesh Sharma. Perry Chhabra is good as Manoj’s sister, Rajni. Sarita Joshi is excellent as Manoj’s grandmother. Priyanshu Chatterjee looks handsome and delivers a fine performance as police officer Dushyant Singh. Vikas Divyakirti (as Vikas) makes his mark. Abhishek Sengupta leaves a lovely impression as Gaurinandan’s fat friend and helper. Rahul Dev Shetty shines as Dr. Mehta, the head of the interviewers’ panel. Chhavi Tandon (as Prof. Sujata Mishra), Geeta Sodhi (as Prof. Naghma Qureshi), Deepak Arora (as Dr. Yadav) and Darius Chenoy (as Mr. Solanki) are very good as the other four members of the interviewers’ panel. Neeraj Kalra and Sonal Jha lend decent support as Shraddha’s parents. Sam Mohan has his moments as Deep Mohan. Vijay Rajoria (as librarian Hukumchand), Bhupendra Taneja (as Hariram, the library caretaker), Sanjay Bishnoi (as Pritam Pandey’s friend, Naval), Radhika Joshi (as Pritam Pandey’s friend, Tanya), Sky (as Balli, friend of Manoj Sharma), Triaksh Chhabra (as young Rajni), Vijay Dogra (as the agriculture office clerk), Dev Chauhan (as the agriculture department officer), Sukumar Tudu (as assistant police inspector Albel Singh), Dinesh Ahlawat (as the village school teacher), Bobby Singh (as school principal Narendra), Satish Kumar (as the village bus conductor), Shikha Dubey (as the woman passenger in the bus), Rajeev Agarwal (as the railway canteen manager), Fisa Khan (as the house help at the Joshis’ house), Shiv Dev Singh (as the peon at the UPSC), Deep Kriplani (as the UPSC superintendent), Gendalal Sahu (UPSC peon outside the interview room) and Naveen Gupta (as the UPSC traffic constable) lend outstanding support. Others are good. Mukesh Chhabra and Aayush Saxena deserve kudos for their extraordinary casting.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s direction is praiseworthy. His narration is excellent. Shantanu Moitra’s music and Swanand Kirkire’s lyrics are appropriate but the absence of hit songs is a major minus point insofar as the commercial prospects of the film are concerned. Rangarajan Ramabadran’s cinematography is very nice. Prashant Bidkar’s production designing and Hemant Wagh’s art direction are in synch with the mood of the film. Editing (by Jaskunwar Kohli and Vidhu Vinod Chopra) is super-sharp.
On the whole, 12th Fail is an excellent film made from the heart and which touches the heart. It deserves to succeed. Having said that, it must be added that lack of promotion and, therefore, awareness about the film’s release, will come in the way of realisation of its potential at the box-office.
Released on 27-10-’23 at Inox (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: dull. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.