Vikrant Massey’s 12th Fail to release in China this year

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail was one of the most-loved movies of 2023. After the movie’s roaring success in India, Vikrant Massey’s film is heading for a release in China. 

Upon its release on October 27, 2023, the movie based on the real-life story of IAS Manoj Kumar Sharma not only earned critics’ praise but went on to earn whopping numbers at the box office. 

Months after its India release, the makers are set to release it in China. In an interview with Variety, director Vidhu Vinod Chopra revealed that they are planning to release the movie in a big way in China. 

Recalling the audience response his movie got at the first edition of the Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, the veteran filmmaker said, “We are releasing in China in a big way this year. 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.”

No release date has been finalised yet. 

”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 said.

Based on the book of the same name by Anurag Pathak, the movie shows the inspiring journey of a boy from a very small town in the Chambal region in northern India, who clears one of the toughest exams in India.

Vikrant Massey’s commendable performance as Manoj Kumar Sharma earned him a lot of praise from audience and critics alike. 

Apart from Vikrant, the movie stars Medha Shankr, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar, and  Priyanshu Chatterjee among others.

WION’s Pragati Awasthi called the film Massey’s career-best performance. In her review, she wrote, “I was really impressed by Vikrant’s performance in the film, and it’s safe to say that this is his best work to date. Vikrant didn’t just play the character he lived it, from the local accent to the body language, innocence, eagerness, and shyness.” 

“For the way he has brought out the different layers of the character, he deserves all the praise.”