Vikrant Massey’s 12th Fail: Meet IPS Manoj Kumar Sharma and the people who helped him to ‘restart’

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail was a big hit which gave hope to millions of people that if you have fire in your belly you can make your dreams come true. No frills and fancies, no unnecessary melodrama, but true to its purpose. That’s what struck a chord with the audience. It’s a thought provoking story of an underdog and the film showed how his fight with the system was not his alone, but millions of people who come from rural India who aspire to become civil servants. From being a dog walker, a toilet cleaner to sleeping on the streets, Manoj Kumar Sharma, the real IPS officer has done it all. He taught the youth to never give up on their dreams. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail is no doubt a masterpiece. Manoj Kumar Sharma was born in 1977 in a small village called Bilgaon, situated in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. Coming from a very modest background, Sharma was exposed to the hardships ever since his childhood days. His father worked in the agriculture department. [caption id=“attachment_13591742” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Meet Manoj Kumar Sharma and his ‘restart’ story[/caption] People who helped Manoj Kumar Sharma in his journey Vikrant Massey who portrays the character of Sharma in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail shows that if you have a burning desire in your heart and the perseverance you can achieve all your dreams. The film shows that Sharma failed in his 12th standard board exam in first attempt because cheating, which was a tradition in that particular school in Bilgaon, was stopped by another honest officer played by actor Priyanshu Chatterjee. It was this officer who gave him the first right direction that to become an IPS officer he has to give up cheating. Manoj followed his advice and passed his 12th board without cheating, but with third division. Then came his friend Anant V Joshi, who made him understand about the UPSC examination and took him to Delhi. He too was also a civil servant aspirant like Manoj. Had Manoj not met him that particular day, probably he wouldn’t have been an IPS officer today. Anant too was god sent in his life. How can we forget Gauri Bhaiya, the man who told him the real formula of ‘restart’ and gave him the necessary tips to make it big in the final interview. Gauri too was an IPS aspirant, but he couldn’t pass the interview because he didn’t come from an English medium background. There are millions of such people who come with social barriers and language barriers, but everybody is not fortunate to have a Gauri Bhaiya in their life. The love of Manoj’s life, Shraddha Joshi who stood by him like a rock. From a much better background, Shraddha has abandoned her medical studies because she too wanted to become a bureaucrat and bring about a change in the system. So, Manoj Sharma’s success journey was not his alone, but all these people who helped him to become an IPS officer.