Vidhu Vinod Chopra's documentary Zero Se Restart was honoured with The German Star of India 2025 (audience award) at the 22nd Indian Film Festival Stuttgart in Germany.
Voted for by the audience, the award recognises outstanding achievements in entertainment for a feature film, according to a press release.
Edited and directed by Jaskunwar Singh Kohli, Zero Se Restart, is a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the acclaimed film “12th Fail”, which was directed and produced by Chopra.
"12 Fail" was released in 2023, starring Vikrant Massey in the lead role, and went on to emerge as a successful film, both critically and commercially. It was based on the life of Manoj Kumar Sharma, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who, despite belonging to a poor family, became a civil servant.
Chopra said he is grateful for the response from Germany.
"I'm deeply thrilled that the raw emotion and sincerity of 'Zero Se Restart' have resonated beyond borders. I'm truly grateful for the overwhelming love from the people of Germany," he said in a statement.
Kohli called it a surreal feeling.
"It feels surreal to have audiences halfway across the world choose our film as their favourite. Thank you, Stuttgart. Thank you, Germany. This was completely unexpected and incredibly heartening. It brings to mind VVC's line from 'Zero Se Restart' — ‘Tayyar raho yaara, kabhi bhi kuchh bhi ho sakta hai!' (Be ready, my friend—anything can happen at any time!).” The documentary is streaming on Prime Video.
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