Vikrant Massey’s ‘12th Fail’ Becomes Highest Rated Indian Film On IMDb; Races Ahead Of ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Barbie’

Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘12th Fail’, starring Vikrant Massey in the lead role, is getting love from both the audience and the critics ever since it was released. Now with box office success, the film has achieved yet another feat by becoming the highest rated Indian film of all time on IMDb. With a rating of 9.2 out of 10 on IMDb, ‘12th Fail’ has secured the number one spot on IMDb’s Top 250 films of Indian Cinema.

The other films in the top five Indian movies of all time include the 1993 animated film ‘Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama’, Mani Ratnam’s ‘Nayakan’, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ‘Gol Maal’ and R Madhavan’s directorial debut ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’. In 2023, among all films from around the world, ‘12th Fail’ was rated the highest.

With the rating of 9.2, the film has raced ahead of some of the most acclaimed Hollywood blockbusters of last year. These include, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (rated 8.6), Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ (8.4), ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Vol. 3 (7.9), Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ (7.8), ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ (7.7) and Gret Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ (6.9).

Additionally, the film was also selected as the closing film for the Macau Asia-Europe Young Cinema Film Festival.

‘12th Fail’, which is based on a book by Anurag Pathak, chronicles the life of Manoj Kumar Sharma, who overcame poverty and other difficulties to become an Indian Police Service officer. Inspired by real-life stories, the film also showcases the relentless struggles of millions of students attempting the UPSC entrance exam. ‘12th Fail’ also depicts how Manoj Kumar Sharma’s wife, IRS officer Shraddha Joshi, was instrumental in his rise.

The film, which minted Rs 67 crore worldwide, emerged as a surprise hit of the year. It stars Vikrant in the lead role, alongside Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Priyanshu Chatterjee in key roles. It has also been released on Disney+Hotstar, and in November 2023, it was submitted to the Oscars as an independent nomination.