12th Fail: Journey of an IPS officer

In a year marked by the dominance of an ultra-macho narrative coupled with mind-bending VFX in Bollywood, ‘12th Fail’, emerges as a refreshing departure, earning accolades both in terms of decent box office collection and generous ratings. Helmed by the seasoned filmmaker, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the question arises: does the ‘12th Fail’ really merit the hype and favourable ratings bestowed upon it by the audience and top film-critics? Does the film genuinely portray the grit of lakhs of UPSC aspirants or is it just another story from the familiar ‘rags to riches’ narrative of Bollywood?

Drawing heavily from Anurag Pathak’s book, the film portrays the inspiring and seemingly-insurmountable journey of an IPS officer, Manoj Kumar Sharma, hailing from the once-infamous Chambal. Overcoming hurdles, including failure in 12th standard, Sharma, successfully cracks what is acclaimed as the country’s most challenging and coveted competitive exam in his last attempt. The film ambitiously attempts to portray the indomitable spirit of lakhs of aspirants who embark the grueling journey of UPSC.

Every year, thousands of youngsters driven by the dream of donning the prestigious titles of IAS/IPS officer, move to New Delhi every year. However, only a select few, approximately 0.7 percent emerge victorious, making it one of the most unforgiving exams. The exam is known for its high-standard and rigorous process. The protracted three-tier exam begins with prelims, followed by Mains, and culminating in the most grueling interview. Each stage presents its unique set of challenges. Should an aspirant falter, a common occurrence, at any of these three stages, they find themselves initiating the entire process anew, aptly described as a ‘restart’ in the film. The long-drawn cycle demands a significant investment of time, typically consuming 6 – 10 precious years of an aspirant's life until they exhaust all attempts.

Throughout this prolonged journey, aspirants grapple with sociological challenges, psychological battles, financial constraints, often succumbing to bouts of depression, battling the excruciating pain of loneliness and isolation.

While their passionate struggle and sleepless nights are widely acknowledged through the celebrated speeches of UPSC toppers, the toilsome struggle of those who failed at the last mile – succumbing by a mere mark or less – rarely gets attention amid the celebrations. Their post-failure struggle till they find their feet firmly grounded once again is a feature of depression, loss of confidence, stigma of wasting years and money.

Despite the latent potential embedded in the film, Chopra falters in portraying the multifaceted challenges faced by the aspirants. The film provides only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to portraying the intricacies of the competitive exam atmosphere and the intense preparation it entails. The film lacks the depth and complexities of the journey, leaving the audience with a glimpse rather than a comprehensive understanding of the aspirant’s journey.

Chopra relies heavily on the financial struggles of the candidate, a theme well-explored in Bollywood’s ‘rags to riches’ stories. What would have set this film apart is the portrayal of the internal struggle, emotional turmoil, and relentless grit and determination inherent in the UPSC journey.

The film editing exhibits a noticeable sense of haste. The pace of the journey is so hurried that it misses the opportunity to build exam tension effectively. Years pass in mere minutes, the transition from prelims to the next occurs in a blink. Mind it, this exam has been a source of depression to many failed candidates. And to cover up the directorial failures, the film-maker takes the recourse of monologues. Even the use of banal voice-over genre feels an unnecessary addition.

The only scene that the film maker has successfully established is the commotion and hoardings of Mukherjee Nagar, the hub of civil service coaching centres. Even the performance of the protagonist played by Vikrant Massey, despite his efforts to remain true to the character, isn’t as impressive as he has been in Mirzapur.

The interview scene - hailed as make or break moment in real life – is utterly appalling. Injustice pervades through the scene, leaving a horrid taste. The scene does gross injustice to candidates who have faced failure for even a smallest falter. The protagonist is granted a second chance to impress the panel, which should be nothing less than a miracle. He breaks into a monologue, and has nothing significant to merit his selection. The scene is disservice to thousands of candidates who have succeeded or failed at interview level. In attempting to emulate Raju Rastogi’s interview scene of 3 idiots, produced and co-written by Chopra, Vidhu has let down Manoj big time.

"12th Fail" falls short of realizing its potential, presenting a hurried and incomplete narrative that fails to do justice to the profound journey it seeks to depict. The film lacks both cinematic charm and a connection with the gritty ground realty it attempts to depict. It doesn’t seem to honour the strenuous journey of every UPSC aspirant. The director should learn from the title of his film, 12th fail and keep trying again and again until he succeeds in capturing the journey of UPSC aspirant successfully.