New Delhi: Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film '12th Fail' has been getting immense love from the viewers since its release and the admiration for the film has grown even more after the film premiered on OTT on 29th December. Now the Vikrant Massey starrer has become the highest-rated Indian film of all time on IMDb. 


The biographical drama has a rating of 9.2 out of 10 and thus secures the top position in IMDb’s list of the top 250 Indian films. Other four films in top five are the 1993 animated film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama, Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Gol Maal, and Madhavan’s Rocketry: The Nambi Effect. 


With its rating, the film has left behind Hollywood films like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (rated 8.6), 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). 


The film is based on Anurag Pathak's best-selling novel about the actual story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma. 


The movie delves into the relentless struggles of millions of students attempting the UPSC exams. Ultimately a story of resilience, perseverance, and never giving up, ‘12th Fail’ also stars Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Priyanshu Chatterjee. 


While speaking to ANI, Vikrant shared the impact of the film on him. “Even with Manoj Kumar Sharma, there were moments when Vinod sir would call a cut and I would continue weeping even after the cut was called because I just could not control myself,” he told ANI. 


In another interview with PTI, Vikrant said that he resonated with Sharma's life story on many levels. 


"I come from a middle-class family, some days when I look back in retrospect... We were probably a lower middle-class family... Maybe it was his struggle to support the family. I also did that at the age of 16, and no 16-year-old wants to go out and work for 12 hours a day when your friends are playing. I did that. 


In November 2023, the movie was also submitted to the Oscars as an independent nomination.