Ayushman Khurana is now one of those actors who can be reliably expected to give us surprisingly enjoyable and/or thought-provoking films and do full justice to his role. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha has recently proved himself as someone who takes difficult subjects and tells terrific stories with them; often making us uncomfortable with what we see on screen. Article 15 is highly watchable because of all these elements and because it stirs a hornet’s nest by examining one of India’s biggest fault lines – caste.
The trailer shows a fresh young IPS officer (Khurana) head into rural Uttar Pradesh on his first assignment to confront a heinous crime which he proceeds to investigate. He encounters the deeply entrenched caste system of rural India and tries to bring about a semblance of justice.
Sinha makes us think and introspect about our deeply unequal society, in which, even 72 years after independence Article 15 of the constitution that guarantees equality is still unfulfilled. Some critics feel that this is the movie to help detox after Kabir Singh and laud the film as important, well made and thought-provoking without being preachy. The film also stars Isha Talwar, Sayani Gupta, and the performances of Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub have come in for high praise.
The film is said to be based on the horrific incidents of Badayun of 2014. However some facts have been changed. Some viewers have said that is distortion and that the film should have stayed faithful to the facts.
Many feel that this makes the film ‘anti-brahmin’. Some have labeled the film ‘Hindu-phobic’, called it a propaganda film and called for its boycott.
Some also accuse the movie as being Brahmin-centric; putting a Brahmin at the centre of a Dalit story and of the ‘Brahmin Savior Complex’. While caste oppression is shown as being perpetuated by Brahmins, ultimately it is a Brahmin who also comes to the aid of the oppressed in the film.
Ayushman Khurana has said that the film does not take sides and it is a "content-driven film on the subject of discrimination." He has appealed to people not to make assumptions about the film and to watch it before they make up their minds.
Most viewers have hailed the film. Many felt that a film such as this should have come much earlier and have called out Bollywood for being disconnected to ground realities of Indian society for so long.
Actor Swara Bhaskar has called this film brave in the way it has tackled one of “India’s most shameful & complex realities”. She points out how ignorance of caste is itself a huge privilege; something that most from the so-called ‘savarna jaatis’ simply don’t get.
The film garners overall good reviews for being a much needed, truthful and hard-hitting look at the way that underprivileged are still treated and looked at in our country. Go watch Article 15 this weekend – most reviews tell us that this will be money well spent.
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