The lesson learnt last weekend was, Virat ho ya Vidhu, never write them off.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, a Rs 25 crore film scoring high in cinema halls, emits three strong messages: Never cheat. Haar nahi manoonga (I’ll never accept defeat). Restart.

All three were on display last Sunday at Eden Gardens. Written off for poor form (2019-22), topped with a controversial step down as captain, Virat Kohli’s masterly birthday present to himself was a reminder. Never forget that this was the 18-year-old Delhi boy who’d scored 40 runs at the end of play in a match with Karnataka in 2006, had lost his father the same night at 3.54am, had returned to the crease the next morning and attended the funeral only after being dismissed for 90.

From the paratha- loving Punjabi boy to the leanest-meanest poster boy of fitness. From teetering as a has-been to a match-winning record-setter. Undeterred determination. Unmatched self-belief. Passion, aggression.

We saw it this week on the field and at the movies.

The weakening graph from Kareeb (1998) and Broken Horses (2015) to Shikara (2020) had made Vidhu seem a filmmaker whose only recent claim to fame was that he’d backed a gem called Raju Hirani.

Pre-Diwali is known as a dead period when producers dump their duds in theatres. The Rs 300 crore Tiger Shroff film Ganapath flickered out with a box-office figure of Rs 9 crore. Kangana Ranaut’s Rs 60 crore Tejas crash-landed with a
Rs 5 crore collection. And Vikrant Massey’s 12th Fail, made by Vidhu, who hadn’t ignited the box office in decades, hit it out of the park, Rs 25 crore, not out.

Virat. Vidhu. Men who never give up. Men with much in common. Virat’s fitness is legendary. And when there was talk of how Vidhu delivered a hit at age 71, “My assistants look older than me,” he chuckled. “Health. Family. Cinema. The three clear priorities of my life. I work out every day in my gym at home.”

Vidhu also practises yog nidra — takes an afternoon nap. “Even during shooting when there were 5,000 people waiting for me, I did my daily yog nidra.”

Virat too has talked of his afternoon nap as an important “Reset”.

Stretching the similarities, they have an Anu each in their lives — Anushka Sharma, Anupama Chopra. Hardworking career women with a calming influence on their ebullient husbands.

Incidentally, when a Vidhu wanted to celebrate the unexpected success of 12th Fail, the venue One8 Commune, the restaurant where Virat’s illuminated signature is the most popular mural.

Based on the real story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma and his wife Shraddha, it’s not just the box-office numbers that are animating Vidhu. “I’m happy that a small film with an important message is doing better than films full of gas. That it will inspire more filmmakers to make films like this.”

When a teacher at a school in Almora (where Shraddha studied) asked her students what they learnt from 12th Fail, the kids chimed, “No cheating.” Then they said, “Haar nahi manoonga.” And they recalled, “Restart”.

“That’s what gave me the greatest feeling of happiness,” beamed Vidhu. “That apart from grown-ups and others, school kids are getting the message of the film. The “All izz well” Munna Bhai life change that a movie can make is a great feeling.

“I’m 71 and I have enough money to live happily till I’m 101. Money doesn’t give me a high. People low on self-esteem walk tall when they’re rich. But if you respect who you are and love what you do, your self-esteem doesn’t come from your bank balance.”

Vidhu, producer and co-writer of Munna Bhai MBBS, has again used the same winning formula of entertain and educate. “Say something important with a smile.”

Virat has said that he wants his fitness and his focus to inspire the young.

12th Fail has sent home the right lessons. It has been an inspirational week.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author