Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail is an inspiring movie that shows the ups and downs of real life. It takes us close to someone who wants to succeed in competitive exams. The movie is full of interesting people, has an uplifting story, and evokes lots of emotions. Through its protagonist, it tells us one thing very clearly: “Haar nahi manunga”. Just like numerous UPSC aspirants who don’t accept defeat.
But beneath this dream story lies a complex reality. This article will delve into the privileges that shaped the Vikrant Massey’s character Manoj Sharma’s journey, which the film conveniently ignores. I am to explore how his unique circumstances, support system, and resources contributed to the perseverance and resilience powerfully portrayed in the film.
A privileged character
Here are some of the events in Sharma’s life that deconstruct the popular myth that anyone can achieve success with persistence and hard labour alone. While this might be true in some cases, a basic understanding of sociological imagination can show that Sharma’s story is not one of those. 12th Fail is a film that quietly slides the privileges under the rug.
1. Sharma runs straight to the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)—just after a clash with goons backed by a local MLA—to loudly criticise the system. In an unexpected turn, the DSP goes to the police station with Sharma and saves the day. Usually, in India, challenging the authority doesn’t end so well, certainly not for the oppressed caste groups. Either Sharma was exceptionally lucky or some sort of underlying privilege was playing a role beneath the surface.
2. The character belongs to a quite comfortable background. He is not a regular Indian living below the below poverty line (BPL). Government jobs are the norm in his family, with steady incomes from pensions, land, and livestock. His grandfather was a Junior Commissioned Officer (Subedar) in the Indian Army. His father was a government employee, though dismissed from his job due to some allegations. This doesn’t quite fit the typical ‘rags to riches’ narrative, does it?
3. In the Sharma household, there’s an odd certainty that passing the 12th standard will lead to a job—a belief that’s strangely confident given the tough job market of the early 1990s in India. It makes you wonder where such optimism stems from. At the time, not everyone was so hopeful about getting a job after school.
4. When Sharma is left without money in Gwalior, he not only gets a free meal but also meets Pritam Pandey, his friend, who helps him travel to New Delhi. Good Samaritans are rare to find. Is Sharma exceptionally fortunate?
5. Gauri Bhaiya enters Sharma’s life as his mentor in New Delhi, offering him a place to stay, which even has an attendant. Gauri makes sacrifices for Sharma and gives his residence to him so that he can study and succeed. Hardly anyone is so lucky. This aspect of the story is especially intriguing because it addresses the issue of caste. Gauri Bhaiya, an OBC, attempted UPSC exams six times. Interestingly, the narrative frames this situation as a type of privilege. However, despite this, Gauri ultimately fails and ends up opening a tea shop.
6. Sharma’s love story with Shraddha Joshi plays out like a typical Bollywood romance—there are no caste barriers. Even the initial objections from Joshi’s father turn into acceptance. This familiar storyline of arranged love marriage is nothing exceptional.
7. Enrolling in a well-known coaching institute in New Delhi was just another stroke of luck in Sharma’s journey, rather than a hard-earned achievement.
8. One night, Sharma boldly seeks advice from a high-ranking government official, a civil service stopper. This kind of guidance is typically out of reach for most. Does Sharma have access to advantages others do not?
9. Sharma performs poorly at the interview stage of the competitive exams. But he is still given another chance. Does that happen? And to whom? It makes you question the motives and biases of the members on the interview board. The film doesn’t talk about the social composition of the board, but I am curious. This kind of favour is not easy to get. As a third-generation individual, Sharma struggled to comprehend simple English. Despite this, the interview board was sympathetic to him. All India civil services officers are not selected like that. This was the biggest miracle that happened in the movie.
10. The film overlooks the potential advantage of being a Hindi speaker compared to other UPSC candidates with diverse linguistic backgrounds. For Sharma, speaking Hindi likely eased his interview, a privilege not afforded to everyone. Just put a Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, or Oriya-speaking individual in Sharma’s place and the entire story crumbles. Who would have even heard him inside Dholpur house, where UPSC interviews take place?
Also read: Ava Duvernay’s ‘Origin’ wants us to question our role in caste system. Will we make amends?
Secret recipe for success
In Sharma’s story, the line between hard work and privilege is blurred. While his determination is evident, the numerous instances of extraordinary luck and hidden advantages also play a significant role in his journey to success.
It’s not easy to notice privileges, especially if they are generational and have become part of the common sense of society at large. Underlining White privilege, American activist and scholar Peggy McIntosh noted, “I have come to see White privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.”
Sharma’s case is similar. He might not even know why all the doors are opening so easily for him. It’s easy for him and others to think that he was smart and worked hard. But we all know that’s not the entire story.
“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both,” wrote C Wright Mills, who is revered as the pioneer of sociological imagination.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
Great article. Quite disappointing to see the comments. But then that the level of social discourse in this country. There are valid questions asked and instead of a discussion what’s here is abuse.
Thank you Print for letting the author write this viewpoint.
You have Sick mindset Mr Mandal. And the print as always gets the pleasure in printing all this nonsense without even thinking once. Their only agenda is to get negative publicity and same is the mindset of this chutiya Mandal.
wtf is this stupidity ? how did the print allow this to be published?
Dumb
It is extremely unfortunate that a person with such a sickening mindset as Mr Mandal has been given such a ” privileged” medium such as the Print.
If, perhaps, he had not been so biased and prejudiced towards people from Hindi speaking background, such as the character of IPS Manoj Kumar Sharma, he would be less obtuse in his assessment. But I guess less “privileged” people from his background need a little reality checking and fact finding.
1. While it’s true that it is not common for a layman to walk up straight for help to any civil servant, it is also not uncommon to find SPs and District Magistrates who are connected to the people in their area and hence are extremely popular.
2. While Mr. Manoj may have had some help from his grandmother, you cannot deny the stroke of misfortune that befell him Gwalior when he found his entire money stolen. I guess that not “privileged” enough for the author.
3. Mr. Manoj’s father is the textbook low level govt employee who is punished for standing up to corruption. The same can also be said of his brothers who drive a tempo in order to make ends meet. In that context, I wonder what the author means when he questions the “rags to riches story”. The last I heard, it was a story about grit and determination.
4. As a student who once, to use the famous addage, was an “aspirant” himself( though belonging to a different profession) I have seen first hand the struggle students in coaching institutes go through to support themselves and also study to make it big.
I suppose the Mr. Mandal had an unsuccessful run at cracking the UPSC exams himself. Sadly, his career writing garbage and fiction isn’t going to bring him many laurels either.
Regards
Most sick article I have come across, such a negative guy with negative energy . Extremely poor on Prints part to run the story
Such a sick and perverted article..Mr. Mandal. You and your ilks are the beneficiaries…you very well know it. This is just sickening that you consider someone privileged just by their surname. You won’t like it if you are called out as such because of your surname..? People like you don’t even spare human struggles, sufferings…and try to even distinguish it based on caste. My comments won’t get published by the “moderators”…or will receive thorough bashing.. now you should know…Mr. Mandal who is the privileged one..!!
Sir please check 🙏 my money
@दिलीप मंडल जी, एक कहावत आप पर लागू होती हैं, कि सावन के अंधे को हरा हरा ही दिखाई देता हे.
@The Print और आप, समाज में उल्टे सीधे कुतर्क देकर वैमनस्य फैला रहे हे, यह कहिये की रोल टाइटल शर्मा हे, तो कृपया यह जान लीजिए, टाइटल “शर्मा ” कई स्थानों पर विभिन्न जातियों के लोग लगाते हे. किरदार किस और जाति का होता तो आप के विचार उसमे भी विरोधाभास पैदा करते.
मूल् यह हे कि जनरल category में कई धर्म और कई हिन्दू जाति के लोग भी आते हैं.
Thats the stupidest article I have read in recent times. Just shows how people can turn anything good to look bad.
The story is of perseverance and hard work. His strong will to achieve his goals. And humanity is alive in this world. People come forward to help at most unexpected moments. Nobody just walked into his home and server it on a platter.
When you show such dedication and hard work, and take half chances, things happen differently.
Yes, he may have been lucky to get heard and receive help. But at the end of the day, his hard work and dedication brought him success.
As the old saying goes “Bhagwan bhi unki hi madat karta hai jo khud ki madat karte hain”
Which type of snake are you. Spewing venom through media. Go get some medic.
I believe that you are trying to discuss a society free from all mental barriers, but in your attempt to express strong dislike or, I should say, in your effort to liberate yourself, you seem to forget the basics of freedom. Instead, you make your own mind a slave to hatred. I believe that whatever you were trying to portray does not reflect anything from your research; it merely stems from your hatred.
Dilip sir always comes with intriguing exploration & explanation.however,these types of explanation should be normal to make level playing field.but it is exceptional & subject to hate ,due to hagemony of same ppl from protagonist to movie maker to review writers to comment writers.
Privilege itself means,what u cant see.it just seems normal & as happened by fluke.as,here many ppl r justifying ews on the basis of movie,while same ppl r despising others reservations.it cant be even called hypocrisy,but its crude hate.
Thank you dilip sir for keeping ppl like me enlightening by showing us other side of story.while mainstream tries to keep us blind by flashing only one side narrative.
Very very stupid
In your article you pointed out various privileges of upper caste people but you forget to mention that a upper caste candidate has to clear GEN merit in exam he does not has benifites of reservation . But this movie shows that a person who has limited economic resource and has rural background and hindi medium or any vernacular medium it became very difficult to clear this exam. So despite your so called caste privilege there are many other privileges that other people have in there life. Vikrant Massi’s story show us how important EWS reservation is .
सर सिर्फ़ नेता के रोल में नहीं रहना चाहिए आपको…. कभी कभी तटस्थ होकर भी विश्लेषण कर सकते हैं…. जब ओबीसी में सिर्फ चंद सुब कैटेगरी सारा आरक्षण ले जाते हैं और अनुसूचित जाति में भी यही हाल है और जब आर्थिक अति संपन्न लोग आरक्षण ले लेते हैं और जब आरक्षित वर्ग ब्राह्मणवाद फैलाता है तब भी कुछ लिख दिया करिए
The print journalism in general and yours in particular is totally despicable.
How such trash is being received by Indian people??
Pl keep the mouth shut.
Your vested motives and interest perfectly aligned the print ideology. We don’t give a shit .
Time to block The Print from all spheres of life. Such useless and baseless article. Waste of time.
If one wants to know how wokeness is defined, no need to go anywhere else. You have reached the right place.
Frankly it’s an Indian movie and such creative liberties are to be expected. That said I don’t think he would have had the kind of ‘privileges’ that you allude to. Yes he is a Sharma but If that helped him scale the upsc then you live in a fool’s paradise. OC guys always do get the short end of the stick as far as education in india is concerned. For me the best thing about the movie were him fighting against all odds and shraddha being there through thick and thin to get him across the line! Considering every hindi movie these days reeks of commercialism this movie was a welcome relief!
If you don’t have anything to do please sit at home rather than pushing these kind of nonsense out .
That shows your mentality bro. Grow out of your mindset. The one who doesn’t appreciate someone else efforts but also criticize him on the basis of his caste. You are no different from other person who do caste discrimination. Check the amount of pension that a lower rank person might be getting in the early 90s. If he is wrong then definitely mayawatiji brother son claiming reservation benefits is wrong too.
PS: – His family currently has around 1300 cr property as per 2017 records