SRK, smartphone & Scale: Box office booms for entertainment, OTT in trouble

Media & entertainment has done very well in the physical world. It is the virtual one that is in trouble

Manoj Kumar Sharma grew up in penury in the badlands of Chambal. While struggling to make a living, he is impressed by an honest cop and decides to join the Indian Police Service (IPS). His journey from Chambal to Gwalior to Delhi, the soul-crushing poverty he deals with, the odd jobs he does while attempting the various exams for IPS all make for heart-warming cinema in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail.
 

The film, based on Sharma’s real-life journey captured in a 2019 book by Anurag Pathak, is one of the best movies of 2023. It is also one of the