Movie – 12th Fail Movie
Star Cast: Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Anshuman Pushkar, Anant Joshi, Sam Mohan, and ensemble.
Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Written by Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Story by Anurag Pathak
Based on Twelfth Fail (novel) by Anurag Pathak
Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Yogesh Ishwar
Production House: Vinod Chopra Films and Zee Studios
Ratings – 4.0
Review
12th Fail takes the tedious world of IPS aspirants and weaves a story with intricate details. The writers plant seeds of situations that bloom later with a thud, delivering satisfying callbacks and rewards.
The final interview feels a bit too dramatic for a movie that has been so subtle, but the triumphant scene that follows makes you forgive that one mistake and cry with the man who has overcome his destiny to conquer the world.
Vikrant Massey knew that this character would be a golden feather in his filmography. His performance is beyond validation. Massey breathes Manoj Kumar Singh without trying to mimic him, which is the best part of his performance.
Medha Shankar is a fine actor who can say a lot with silence. Not many can do that. For a character that is a silent force behind Manoj, she has a very complex role. She looks fragile from the outside, but is actually a very stubborn, intelligent, and headstrong girl who knows what she wants. Medha plays the part with great earnestness.
Anant Vijay Joshi is an excellent addition to the cast and plays Pandey very well. The actor brings out the helplessness of his part, who doesn’t want to pursue IPS in the first place, very well.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra has crafted a prime example of pure filmmaking, with a straightforward structure but so much intrigue that you will definitely cry by the end. DOP Rangarajan Ramabadran helps him achieve his cinematic vision with his camera. Every frame is carefully composed, and it’s clear why the camera is placed a certain way.
Shantanu Moitra’s stunning background score takes us back to the Satyajit Ray era. His idea of creating a musical void and filling it at the end of an intense scene with notes from an Indian musical instrument is reminiscent of the work of the legendary Ravi Shankar.
The Last Word
I could go on for hours praising this film. It is a tale that needs to be seen by the masses. 12th Fail deserves an audience, and we, as cinephiles, deserve cinema that respects us. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Vikrant Massey have served one.
