--- title: "12th Fail" year: 2023 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/12th-fail" fi1m_id: "12th-fail" imdb_id: "tt23849204" tmdb_id: 1163258 wikidata_id: "Q122921105" fi1m_score: 75 critics_reviews: 1 published: "2026-09-15" updated: "2026-09-20T21:00:09.514623+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # 12th Fail (2023) Directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra · 2h 26m · MPA PG · Drama ## Identity 12th Fail - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/12th-fail - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** 12th-fail - **IMDb ID:** tt23849204 - **TMDB ID:** 1163258 - **Wikidata ID:** Q122921105 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23849204/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1163258, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q122921105 **Fi1m score: 75** · Critics: 1 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* A civil service exam has no business making us this anxious > Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s drama is worth an evening for Vikrant Massey’s affecting performance. Its faith in hard work is moving, though the repeated lessons about perseverance would benefit from firmer editing. ## Synopsis A young farmer sets his sights on the civil service, pursuing the examinations that could change his circumstances. Vikrant Massey plays Manoj Kumar Sharma in a drama about effort, ambition and the question of who gets a fair chance to succeed. The story asks what honesty and persistence can achieve amid corruption and caste divisions. Medha Shankr plays Shraddha Joshi, alongside Anant Joshi as Pritam Pandey and Anshumaan Pushkar as Gaurinandan. Vidhu Vinod Chopra directs and co-writes this adaptation of Anurag Pathak’s novel. ## Review Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s *12th Fail* is an affecting, overlong drama that earns most of its sentiment through Vikrant Massey. A young farmer pursues the civil service examinations, and Chopra treats the possibility of a job with the seriousness usually reserved for a far more conspicuous adventure. That is a worthwhile choice. Work can change the conditions of a life, and the film gives us reason to care about the studying that has to come first. Massey plays Manoj Kumar Sharma without making his determination seem sufficient in itself. There is strain in the performance, and it helps when the writing becomes too certain about the rewards of persistence. We were moved by Manoj’s effort to keep going with the examinations, because Massey makes that effort feel exhausting. The character is being asked to carry a lesson about honest endeavour, but the actor keeps him human enough for us to worry about him. Rangarajan Rambadran’s cinematography gives Massey’s performance room to register; the attention to Manoj makes the film’s encouragement easier to accept. Shantanu Moitra’s music is more emphatic, and its hopeful feeling sometimes presses an emotion that the acting has already supplied. We do not need quite so much assistance. Moitra’s contribution suits Chopra’s open-hearted approach, but allowing us a little more doubt would make the hope more convincing. The film draws on Anurag Pathak’s novel, with Chopra and Jaskunwar Kohli credited as writers and editors. Across 146 minutes, they make the importance of persistence clear enough to risk wearing it out. The emphasis on honest effort gives the story a straightforward appeal, but the insistence that cheating will not pay needs less repetition. There is enough at stake in Manoj’s ambition without continual instruction about how to judge it. We remained interested in his pursuit; we could have done with fewer reminders of what it was meant to teach us. The larger reservation is the faith in meritocracy. Corruption and caste are part of the film’s account of what obstructs success in India, yet its commitment to hard work as the answer makes those obstacles seem more manageable than they should. Determination is a quality worth admiring in a character. It cannot explain why other people, working just as hard, do not get the same chance. Chopra’s optimism is welcome, but the moral certainty reduces a difficult subject to something rather too easily taught. As an underdog drama, *12th Fail* succeeds because it takes an ordinary ambition seriously and has an actor capable of making the labour matter. Its earnestness suits a story built around study and hard work. The trouble is simply that Chopra keeps explaining what Massey has already made us feel. Give it an evening if stories of perseverance are your preference, with some patience for the instruction. *Fi1m score 75, published 15 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is 12th Fail worth watching?** *12th Fail* is worth an evening for anyone who likes an earnest underdog drama, and we scored it 75. Vikrant Massey makes a young farmer's pursuit of the civil service examinations feel exhausting and worth caring about. Be prepared for 146 minutes and for Vidhu Vinod Chopra repeating his lesson about perseverance more often than the acting needs. **How long is 12th Fail, and what is it rated?** *12th Fail* runs 2h 26m and is rated PG by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film. **Where can I watch 12th Fail in the US?** *12th Fail* is streaming on Netflix in the US. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is 12th Fail, and is it suitable for children?** *12th Fail* is a 12A drama with nothing frightening in it and no violence to speak of; the tension comes from examinations, poverty and the strain of keeping going. It suits older children and teenagers well, particularly those facing exams of their own. Younger children are likelier to be bored than upset over its two and a half hours. **How does 12th Fail compare to Billy Elliot?** *12th Fail* and [*Billy Elliot*](https://film.one/film/billy-elliot) are both earnest underdog stories about a young person whose talent and effort cost their family something, and both lean harder on sentiment than they need to. *Billy Elliot* is the funnier and more nimble film, carried by Jamie Bell and Julie Walters. *12th Fail* is longer and more instructive, better suited to viewers who want a drama about study and persistence. **Is 12th Fail based on a true story or a book?** *12th Fail* is adapted from Anurag Pathak's novel about Manoj Kumar Sharma, a young farmer who pursues the Indian civil service examinations. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Jaskunwar Kohli wrote and edited the film, and its account of honesty, corruption and caste sits within an optimistic frame the book's readers may or may not share. You do not need to know the novel to follow it. **What should I watch after 12th Fail?** After *12th Fail*, try [*The Lunchbox*](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox) (2013, Fi1m 75): Ordinary routines and modest hopes receive patient attention, with less insistent encouragement. Then [*Billy Elliot*](https://film.one/film/billy-elliot) (2000, Fi1m 81): Another earnest underdog story, alert to the practical costs of pursuing talent; and [*Wadjda*](https://film.one/film/wadjda) (2012, Fi1m 80): A smaller ambition reveals the everyday restrictions placed on an equally determined child. ### Reviews we read (1) - **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): The review describes a warm, if sentimental, paean to the idea that success in India can still be achieved through meritocratic means despite corruption and the caste system. It highlights the semi-true story of a determined young farmer pursuing civil service exams and notes the film's didactic messages about effort and that cheaters never prosper. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/oct/24/12th-fail-review-indian-exam-yarn-offers-hope-on-overcoming-corruption-and-poverty) ## Details - **Director:** Vidhu Vinod Chopra - **Director:** Vidhu Vinod Chopra - **Writer:** Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Jaskunwar Kohli - **Novel:** Anurag Pathak - **Cinematography:** Rangarajan Rambadran - **Editor:** Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Jaskunwar Kohli - **Music:** Shantanu Moitra - **Producer:** Vidhu Vinod Chopra - **Cast:** Vikrant Massey as Manoj Kumar Sharma; Medha Shankr as Shraddha Joshi; Anant Joshi as Pritam Pandey; Anshumaan Pushkar as Gaurinandan; Priyanshu Chatterjee as Dushyant Singh; Geeta Agrawal Sharma as Pushpa Sharma; Harish Khanna as Ramveer Sharma; Vikas Divyakirti as Vikas Divyakirti - **Runtime:** 2h 26m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 27 October 2023 - **Genres:** Drama - **Budget:** $2 million - **Box office:** $37,231 - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjbtuqENvVE ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming *Checked 2026-09-15.* Also available in: AE, AR, AU, AZ, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, EC, EE, ES, GB, GR, HR, HU, ID, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PT, RO, RS, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Paper Chase* (1973): For another examination of ambition, with considerably less reassurance about academic life. - *The Class* (2008): Classroom tensions make the promise of equal opportunity harder to take for granted. - *The Lunchbox* (2013), Fi1m 75: Ordinary routines and modest hopes receive patient attention, with less insistent encouragement. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox.md) - *Billy Elliot* (2000), Fi1m 81: Another earnest underdog story, alert to the practical costs of pursuing talent. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/billy-elliot.md) - *Wadjda* (2012), Fi1m 80: A smaller ambition reveals the everyday restrictions placed on an equally determined child. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wadjda.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/12th-fail