Stills from Patna Shuklla and 12th Fail. (courtesy: YouTube)
Arbaaz Khan, producer of the film Patna Shuklla, recently spoke about the similarities between Raveena Tandon's film and 12th fail in an interview with India Today. Arbaaz said to India Today, "Maybe in Hollywood, there are science fiction and animation films, and they've got a slightly wider spectrum of films that they appreciate. We stay within the range we work in. But what works is when you make it interesting. If you find a subject that's interesting, then it doesn't really matter if films on those topics have been made in the past."
Arbaaz added, "If you notice, recently, there was a film called 12th Fail. We are pretty close or have similar aspects of the film but we are totally different. A film should be interesting, made well and that's how it should be." Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 12th Fail, headlined by Vikrant Massey, is based on the true story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma and his inspirational journey of cracking the UPSC examination against all odds. Directed by Vivek Budakoti, headlined by Raveena Tandon, Patna Shuklla deals with the theme of power abuse and discrepancies that cripple higher education system. The film is streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar.
Vikrant Massey won the Best Actor trophy in the 69th Filmfare Award for 12th Fail. He also received the Actor Of The Year honour at the NDTV Indian Of The Year 2024. The film stars Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Anant V Joshi, Sanjay Bishnoi. The long list of 12th Fail fans among celebrities include Kamal Haasan, Hrithik Roshan, Vijay Deverakonda, Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Vicky Kaushal.
Patna Shuklla stars Raveena Tandon, Manav Vij, Satish Kaushik, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Raju Kher, Raju Kher. The film opened to largely average reviews. In his review for NDTV, film critic Saibal Chatterjee wrote, "Patna Shuklla, no matter how hard it tries to get us to engage with the important questions it raises with all the seriousness they merit, is the cinematic equivalent of a walkout bout. It is way too stiff and starchy to be a meaningful call to action."