12th Fail is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language biographical drama film produced, written and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is based on the 2019 eponymous non-fiction book by Anurag Pathak about the real-life story of Manoj Kumar Sharma, who overcame extreme poverty to become an Indian Police Service officer.[4] The film stars Vikrant Massey in the title role, alongside Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Priyanshu Chatterjee.
Released theatrically on 27 October 2023, 12th Fail received critical acclaim and emerged a sleeper hit, grossing over ₹66 crore (US$8.3 million) worldwide on a ₹20 crore (US$2.5 million) budget.
Manoj Kumar Sharma is the son of a clerk. His father, an honest man, is suspended for hitting a corrupt officer. Manoj prepares cheat slips for his Class 12 exams, as do all his batchmates. However, a newly transferred police officer, DSP Dushyant Singh, stops cheating in the school. As a result, all the students, including Manoj, fail the exam. Meanwhile, his father goes to challenge his suspension in the High Court. The brothers decide to run a travelling rickshaw to help out at home. Manoj’s brother is falsely accused of hitting the local henchman of the MLA after he tries to get their passengers to travel on a bus; for which the police officers frame him. However, Manoj bails his brother out with the help of DSP Dushyant, who advises Manoj to “stop cheating” to become an officer like him.
One year later, Manoj passes his exams without cheating and pursues a B.A. to become a DSP. His grandmother gives him all her savings as he sets out to study in Gwalior but loses all his belongings on the way.
The following year, Manoj fails the preliminary examination but with Gauri’s help, he reappears and manages to clear it. During a visit to a coaching centre, he meets Shraddha Joshi, a UKPSC aspirant, and falls in love with her. Manoj fails to clear his main examinations that year; his relationship with Shraddha also suffers when she learns of his lie
He finally clears the main examinations, while Shraddha clears her UKPSC examinations as well to become a Deputy Collector.
During the interview round, he answers every question honestly. He also receives a letter written to him by Shraddha asking him to marry her. Two months later, when the results are declared with Manoj qualifying the rank to become an IPS officer. One year later, Manoj, now an IPS officer, meets DSP Dushyant Singh at the police station in Mandsaur to thank the DSP for encouraging him. Manoj marries Shraddha, and Pritam begins working as a news reporter.