Vidhu Vinod Chopra

A young farmer studying for the civil service examinations is enough of an adventure for Chopra in 12th Fail (2023). He gives the prospect of a job weight and urgency, without treating the work that comes first as an inconvenience. We were moved by Vikrant Massey's Manoj because he makes that prospect feel worth all the studying. It is a good, overlong film, and a useful place to begin with a director whose generosity can become insistence.

The violence of Parinda (1989) is a long way from that encouragement. He had already made room for romance in 1942: A Love Story (1994), so gentler concerns were hardly a late discovery. A shift towards producing brought collaborations with director Rajkumar Hirani on Munna Bhai MBBS (2003) and 3 Idiots (2009). His return to directing brought Shikara (2020) and 12th Fail, where the desire to encourage is unmistakable.

His preference for actors who fit the story pays off in Massey's casting. Rangarajan Rambadran's cinematography gives the performance room, letting our attention stay with Manoj. Shantanu Moitra's hopeful music is less restrained, pressing feelings the acting has already made clear. Chopra gets enough from his leading actor to make the extra encouragement unnecessary.

The editing is where that trust falters. Chopra and Jaskunwar Kohli, credited as both writers and editors, give perseverance more explanation than it needs across 146 minutes. Repeated assurances that cheating will not pay make the lesson tiresome without making Manoj's pursuit any more compelling. We stay interested in him; we do not need continual instructions about how to judge his efforts.

More troubling is the faith that hard work will be enough. Chopra leaves too little room for people who try just as hard and never get the chance. That certainty makes a difficult subject seem too simple, even when the individual effort is this affecting. Start with 12th Fail for Massey, and allow for a director who could use a firmer editor.