Though director Vidhu Vinod Chopra poured his heart and soul into making the biographical drama 12th Fail, starring Vikrant Massey and Medha Shankar in the lead roles, even he likely never imagined that the film would achieve both critical acclaim and commercial success. Now, following its triumphant reception in India, Chopra is gearing up to release 12th Fail in China, confident in its ability to resonate universally. The movie is based on the 2019 book of the same name, depicting the life and struggles of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma.
“We are releasing (12th Fail) in China in a big way this year,” Chopra told Variety during a conversation. “I was invited to Macau by Marco Mueller for the Asia-Europe Young Cinema film festival. We had a standing ovation in China. And for me that was very gratifying. There were Hindi dialogues, and I of course couldn’t read the subtitles in Chinese. But the way people were clapping, the audience’s reaction was incredible. I have no doubt that this film will do very well.”
“Not only in China, but in every market where there is struggle… where, like in the movie, there is a big government job that you can get through exams and then that changes your life. Where that one exam changes your life forever. Wherever that is… of course in China, in Korea… wherever that is, the film will do very well, because the people will relate to the struggle of the protagonist,” he added.
Reflecting on the film’s unprecedented success, he said, “Each film has its own god, and it’s always a mystery what that god does for that movie. For me, all I can say is perhaps because it’s an honest film, made with honesty and it propagates honesty… and in today’s world, honesty is really in short, short supply. So, perhaps because of that, it connected with so many people.”
Watch 12th Fail trailer here:
Vidhu Vinod Chopra also emphasised his disinterest in the commercial aspects of cinema, expressing a singular focus on creating films aligned with his artistic vision.
“I’m just going to make movies all my life till I’m alive, and hopefully those movies will find their place everywhere, in cinema halls, on streaming platforms, wherever. I’m not interested in the business of cinema. I’ve never been,” Chopra said. “It’s a contradiction because I’ve made some of the biggest hits in India, but for me cinema is such fun. And I’m not highly educated, I wasn’t fortunate enough to go to Stanford, like my daughter. So I just want to keep making movies till I can. I’m 71. I’m hoping to continue making movies till I’m 100 years old. My inspiration in that is of course Clint Eastwood. But that’s all I want to do. Make movies.”
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