After half a decade of such shows beginning with Kota Factory, the genre has only quadrupled. A hapless protagonist—either a teen cajoled by their parents or a lifelong straggler—struggles to succeed among a sea of careerist monsters. They find and make friends. Romantic complications ensue. In the end, if it’s an “inspirational story”, there is good news. Vikrant Massey starred in 12th Fail (2023) as a characteristic underdog stricken with bad luck. But he wins against all odds, drawing a tear or two out of every viewer. Such is the power of this brand of cinema. But what explains our continued fascination with this well-tread topic, even after repeated audiovisual bombardments have exposed their singular truth?
Pradip K Saha, author of The Learning Trap: How Byju’s took Indian edtech for a ride (Juggernaut, 2023), has a simple answer for why Indian audiences are glued to these shows: the Cinderella story or the rags-to-riches saga. This is not specific to India either, he notes. “It is a universal fascination. If you look at any sports biopics, whether it be last year’s Air, or Iqbal, the one with Shreyas Talpade. Audiences are invested in watching a character rise up from the quicksand of misfortune.”
It is a recipe that seldom fails. If you probe further, you find triumphant successes in the form of Chak De! India (2007) and Dangal (2016), where knowledge about the sport itself matters very little. In the final sequence of the hockey movie, you might learn for the first time that the angular placement of a leg foreshadows eventual projections of the puck. But that’s okay because you’re taken by the connection between Shah Rukh Khan and the goalkeeper he appears to talk to through telepathy.
It takes great restraint and command to achieve that, just enough facts to understand the deprivation of the protagonists’ circumstances, and yet maintain that narrative distance to make the film a general commentary on hard work. With media about coaching institutes, it becomes practically effortless. Everybody knows about the trauma that comes with competitive exams. It’s the pleasure of seeing an ant find its way out of a maze. You drop in just enough obstacles and ask people to partake in the vicarious joy of succeeding in some way.
