This film is based on a true story. Young Manoj Sharma’s life appears like a litany of misfortunes: He flunks his final 12th exam. Lives in the hinterlands notorious for its dacoits. His father loses his job for calling out his corrupt superiors. The local politician makes sure Manoj cannot find work in the village. His family survives through the gradual selling of its meagre livestock. Manoj harbours an impossible dream – to pass UPSC, the world’s toughest entrance exam. Passing this exam would open up opportunities of becoming a senior police officer, and fight injustice in the society. His competitors are over a million candidates from the finest educational institutes across India. For a poor village lad, with no knowledge of English and no resources, this is an impossible dream. In his quest he is aided by Shraddha, whose friendship, and later love, keeps him motivated. He is supported by selfless friends. 12th Fail is the inspiring real life story of a village boy Manoj who never loses his zest, innocence and honesty, as he navigates the labyrinths of the UPSC exam with no money or resources but endless courage and grace under fire.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra studied direction at FTII, Pune. His first documentary - An Encounter With Faces was nominated for Academy Awards in 1978. Since then, Vinod has directed several critically and commercially acclaimed films like Khamosh, Parinda, 1942 - A Love Story, Mission Kashmir and Eklavya and most recently 12th Fail. Parinda and Eklavya were nominated as India’s official entries to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category in 1989 and 2007 respectively. Vidhu Vinod Chopra has also produced several other path breaking films including Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai, 3 idiots and Parineeta.