12th Fail Movie Review

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 12th Fail tells the story of a UPSC aspirant. The film is based on Anurag Pathak's novel of the same name, which is about IPS officer Mohan Kumar Sharma's journey.  The film is unlike anything else which the director has either directed or produced. Yes, 3 Idiots does come close to, because that too talked about the importance of education, but both films are very dissimilar in treatment. The Raju Hirani directoral was more or less a comedy, with life lessons thrown in. This is more of a  documentary encapsulating one man’s determination and fortitude. But Mohan Kumar’s struggles aren’t his alone. They symbolise the hardships faced by thousands of underprivileged students who sit in the competitive exams in order to rise themselves above the morass of mediocrity. Such is our system that only a few handful manage to crack it each year. Failure means a life spent in drudgery, a life of uncertain future, whereas success in it guarantees a better lifestyle for sure. Some, like our protagonist here, don’t hanker after it just for the sake of their own betterment. They want the society as a whole to benefit from them becoming exemplary IAS and IPS officers. 

The film is called 12th Fail because the protagonist doesn’t resort to cheating, as is done by all his fellow students, to pass his exams. Because a strict police officer, Dushyant Singh (Priyanshu Chatterjee), has asked him not to as a repayment for helping him. Mohan (Vikrant Massey) takes the lesson to heart and sets about becoming an honest officer himself. However, he lacks the means to do so. His father has been unjustly removed from his government job and has been fighting a court case against it for years. His elder brother does odd jobs to make ends meet. They are so poor that they don’t have anything left to sell to ward off a hand-to-mouth existence. 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. He manages to clear the first exam but fails in the subjective paper, as he lacks the training. The kindness of friends coming in handy here. A failed aspirant who runs a tea stall helps him out by taking care of his lodging and boarding. And the love of his life Shraddha Joshi (Medha Shankar) supports him emotionally and also lends him notes. He cracks the mains too in his last and fourth attempt. The only hurdle now is the interview, where he impresses an sceptical interview board by quoting BR Ambedkar’s maxim, Educate, Agitate, Organise. He tells them he wants to be the best police officer he can be in order to change the system from within and inspire others in turn. 

As said earlier, this feels like more of a documentary than a work of fiction. There’s no overt dramatisation of events here. What we have is a documentation of human struggle. Our hero doesn’t overcome his hardships by some miracle but by constantly getting up after failing. He’s not ranting against the system doing so but just trying his hardest to believe in an ideal and imbibing it. It does contain a love story but the hero and the heroine don’t run around trees singing songs or get physical at the first available moment. It’s a romance based on faith and commitment and yearning. It knows its realities, its boundaries. Vidhu Vinod Chopra has made a technically excellent film. Be it cinematography, editing, sound, costume and production design or writing, everything is above par. The rattle of the flour mill hurts your ears, the nimbus of the 20 watt bulb by which Mohan studies waters your eyes and you feel his shame of wearing the same set of clothes everyday.

Vikrant Massey has been aptly cast as the protagonist. His sense of commitment to the film is akin to that of real-life Mohan Sharma. Vikrant reportedly lost 12 kgs to look like a 12th class student in the first half, then gained seven kgs as the film progressed to look older. He’s so steeped in the role that you don’t believe you’re watching an actor essaying a character. The actor’s expressive eyes convey everything from hurt, despair, anger and finally elation, in varying degrees. He’s known for his dependable performances but this is easily his best performance so far. Medha Shankar plays Shraddha Joshi with poise and confidence. Her performance compliments Vikrant’s and adds to the film.

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. Let’s hope he continues to invest in such real stories. 

Trailer : 12th Fail