At a time when the moral compass of our films resembles a roulette wheel, here comes an inspirational tale that truthfully celebrates probity in public and private life. Returning to the turnstiles after a while with a story of hope and resilience, filmmakerVidhu Vinod Chopramaps how a worthy son of the soil, a species that is becoming endangered in the cinematic landscape, overcomes poverty and corruption to negotiate the toughest exam of the country. The tone is a bit didactic and the treatment gets a tad overstated but it is a big-hearted film that hugs you tight with its message of human goodness. Chopra has successfully generated this delightful feeling in the past with his productionsMunna Bhai M.B.B.S.(2003) and3 Idiots(2009), and12th Failfeels like their spiritual cousin from the Hindi heartland.
Based on a real-life character, here is a chap from Chambal who doesn’t pick up the gun when his father is punished for his honesty. He doesn’t turn hostile when the local MLA stalls his wheels when he and his brother try to eke out a living. Instead, drawing inspiration from an upright police officer (Priyanshu Chatterjee), Manoj Kumar Sharma (Vikrant Massey) wields a pen and learns to write his own destiny in the allotted time so that he can also don the uniform and deliver the elusive justice. Cheating is a way of life in his surroundings but Manoj carries the righteous swagger imbibed from his father (Harish Khanna) and grandmother (Sarita Joshi).
Be it the cheating mafia working under political patronage to keep the masses ignorant or the excruciatingly slow wheels of justice that break the spirit of the common man, Chopra perceptively captures the everyday discrimination and dehumanisation that pushes the deprived to seek posts that exude power.