An illustrious dialogue from the Ayushman Khurana recent starrer movie, Article 15 is a socially responsible and bold movie, one of its own kind in mainstream Bollywood. Ayushman Khurana is known for his mature style of choosing films that are not every day Bollywood masala film, and has yet again delivered a brilliant performance here.
Article 15 occurs in the Constitution of India under Part III that deals with the fundamental rights of the citizens of India. It states that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of race, religion, caste, sex and place of birth. Article 15, talks about the fact that every person should be equal before law and should be treated equally by the law. Furthermore, such discrimination shall not exist with regard to use or access of public places such as shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment.
The movie is reportedly inspired from the 2014 Badaun Rape and Murder case. The trailer of the film which was released recently, shows two young girls of a village brutally raped and their bodies hanging from a tree. It shows that the girls who come from a marginalised family and were forced to work as labourers were targeted because they demanded a hike of Rs. 3 in their daily wages and how they were raped and killed in order to make them realize their status in society.
In Anubhav Sinha’s film Mulk, Taapsee Pannu plays a Hindu lawyer who defends her Muslim father in law against charges of terrorism, towards the end, she asks in the court, who decides what terrorism is, is untouchability terrorism? In article 15, the director in fact establishes that untouchability is terrorism and perhaps it’s even more dangerous because it’s a daily lived reality that dictates people’s jobs, living conditions, where they worship, how they eat and much more. Article 15 of the Indian Constitution prohibits to discriminate on certain grounds and establishes a right to equality but in much of India caste continues to constitute identity. Article 15 is that rare thing focusing directly to the atrocities faced by Dalits and marginalised groups, a mainstream Hindi film that confronts this horror, for that alone it deserves applause. The writer of the film structures a social cause as a police procedural. We’re told that the film is a fiction but of course it is inspired by the notorious 2014 Badaun gang rape case.
Ayushman Khurana, who is the protagonist, is Ayan, a cop who leads the investigative team to unravel the heinous crime in Lal Gaon, Ayan describes it as the Wild West. Ayan is a stand in for people like us, urban educated upper class Indians, a St. Stephens graduated Brahmin who is so westernised in his approach that his girlfriend too calls him firangi, and he becomes an alien in his own country. The protagonist is full of optimism and more fully unaware of reality and in for the rudest shock of his life, he is sensitive, shocked and reached perplexed, whatever the character is feeling the audience is feeling too.
In one of the best scenes of the movie, he tries to understand the various divisions and stratifications within his own team and gets to know that even in the most suppressed there is a hierarchy and he explodes at the absurdity of it. A fellow cop tells Ayan not to disturb the santulan or balance of the society. This movie wants you to realise and shatter your believe that even in 21st century. The scene where the two minor girls are hanging from the tree and then followed by a routine talk between the cops to take off the bodies from the tree is intense and gives you Goosebumps. Director Anubhav Sinha uses drama and effective background score combined with impeccable cinematography, impactful and strong dialogues, keeps the narrative grim and gripping. The film also highlights clearly the difference between constitutional idealism and ground reality.
The movie makes a strong point on why it’s important to do the right thing. It succeeds to show us that ‘the heart of darkness isn’t in some far flung corner of India, it’s within us’. It makes you realise that how we have supported this inhuman 2000 year old caste system with little things, in one scene a man enters a gutter to unclog it and is drenched in filth, his work keeps our life sanitised literally and figuratively. This will make you think hard and probably would change your perspective.
The movie starts with Bob Dylan’s song, the answer my friend is blowing in the wind. And till the moment he realises the answer, the music changes to Vande Matram. The wonderful green shots have been replaced by overflowing gutters, the web of corruption and deceit is thick with dramatic irony the viewer knows a part of the truth, while Ayan is still figuring it and add to the mix a manhunt for a missing child. Local politics and absconding cop is extremely gripping, helped ably by the acting performances.
The movie has however entangled itself into controversies. Brahmins are upset over the fact that the story has been “tweaked”. The community feels that the film will defame them by portraying the accused as Brahmins. They believe the film is an attempt to malign the image of Brahmins and it distorts the true facts of the case.
The movie also mentions that the crime was committed by one ‘Mahantji ke ladke’. Mahantji is considered as a Brahmin of the highest order and this has distressed the Brahmin community.
An organisation named Brahman Samaj of India (BSOI) has approached the Supreme Court seeking for an urgent hearing to put a stay on the release of the film. The petitioner claim that the film violates the true spirit of Article 15 and 19(1) of the Constitution of India and is in violation of Section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. BSOI has contended that the film has various objectionable dialogues. Spreading rumours and caste hatred in the society based on a “false concocted story”. However, the Supreme Court vacation bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, refused to hear the matter on an urgent basis and it had also not given any date for hearing the case.
The petition also claimed that the release of the film is likely to cause severe damage to the public perception of Article 15 and its origin. This may also lead to a trend in film industry of naming any feature film after different articles of the Constitution of India.
Ayushman Khurrana, who plays the role of the police officer investigating the case, said, “I would like to maintain to everyone who is protesting and claiming that the film is anti-Brahmin, please see the film. Our film does not take any sides, has no intention to showcase any community in a bad light and it has been censored by the censor board who have their own set of guidelines of seeing a film”.
This film is effective brave, slick and deals with the subject which most mainstream Bollywood actors.
Having said that, one thing that we all must remember and what this movie has effectively stressed upon and reiterated the words by the father of our Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar:
“Let’s be Indians firstly and lastly”.
Irrespective of the various differences that we have, let’s start accepting each other and resolve to be a more inclusive society where all of us could move forward towards progress and development, the India of our dreams. And here I quote, these very famous lines by Rabindranath Tagore:
“Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high, where knowledge is free, where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls, where words come out from the depth of truth, where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit. Where the mind is led forward by thee, into ever widening thought and action, into that heaven of freedom, my father, LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE!”
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By – Shipra Sahu & Astha Rao