रीस्टार्ट (रैप वर्शन)

Restart - Rap (रीस्टार्ट रैप वर्शन) is rapper-composer Raftaar's standalone hip-hop rendition of 12th Fail's motivational anthem, released on 25 October 2023 — two days before the film's 27 October theatrical release — as the third single from the soundtrack. Unlike the original folk version, this track is entirely composed, written and performed by Raftaar himself (co-credited with original lyricist Swanand Kirkire), retaining the 'zero se kar restart' hook while building fresh rap verses around it in Raftaar's signature aggressive, street-slang-driven style. Distributed by Saregama alongside a further 'Rap 'N' Folk' mashup combining both renditions, the rap version extended the anthem's reach into hip-hop and youth-culture audiences beyond the film's core viewership, reinforcing 'Restart' as 2023's most multi-purpose Hindi motivational song.

As sole music composer and performer on this version, Raftaar rebuilds Restart around programmed hip-hop beats rather than the original's folk-percussion arrangement, trading Shantanu Moitra's dhol-and-chorus warmth for a leaner, bass-forward rap production more typical of Raftaar's own catalogue. The change in genre transforms the song's emotional register from communal singalong to individual, confrontational drive — the same message of overcoming failure delivered as a challenge rather than a chant.

Co-writing with original lyricist Swanand Kirkire, Raftaar keeps the 'zero se kar restart' refrain intact as an anchor but adds his own rap verses in street-slang-inflected Hindi-English, using direct address terms like 'be' to give the track the confrontational, peer-to-peer energy typical of Hindi hip-hop rather than the gentler, more collective phrasing of the folk original.

Released within the same promotional window as 12th Fail's theatrical launch — 25 October 2023, two days ahead of the film's 27 October release — the rap version of Restart was positioned as an alternate, youth-skewed entry point into the film's central message about IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma's repeated failures and eventual UPSC success, giving Vidhu Vinod Chopra's soundtrack a second cultural on-ramp beyond the folk original's older, more traditional appeal.

While the original folk version of Restart became the more widely recognised anthem, Raftaar's rap rendition carved its own niche among hip-hop listeners and contributed to a further combined 'Rap 'N' Folk' single, extending the song's total reach across genre lines — an unusual multi-version release strategy for a single Hindi film track that underlines how central 'Restart' was to 12th Fail's overall marketing and cultural rollout.