Article 15 is a 2019 Indian Hindi language crime drama Film written by Gaurav Solanki and Anubhav Sinha and directed by Sinha . The film deals with Article 15 of the Constitution of India , which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or birthplace.

Article 15- Cast

It stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Isha Talwar, Sayani Gupta, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa and Sumbul Touqeer .

Article 15 – Review

Article 15 is based on true events of the horrific Badaun case from 2014, in which two teenage Dalit girls were gang-raped and murdered, their bodies hung from a tree. Here, we are taken to the Lalgaon in UP, where people wear their caste on their sleeves. It’s an unsettling world, where people don’t even want to share water with people from lower castes. More than a person’s name, it’s their caste which is of relevance. Police officer Ayan Ranjan (Ayushmann Khurrana) tumbles into this world. He is a man, who has “grown up in different countries“, and he represents the educated, urban Indian – idealistic, progressive, but uninformed when it comes to the ‘real issues’ of the other India . And he has to solve a case where two young girls were raped and murdered and hung from a tree.  The rest of the film shows how Ranjan solves the case, while trying to understand the caste system in the village.

There are moments in Anubhav Sinha’s Article 15 that are so disturbing they feel like a punch to the gut.

There’s a scene in Article 15 where a man is lowered into a filthy and overflowing manhole. He emerges with waste all over him and he goes back in seconds later to complete the job, one he is condemned to by virtue of his jaat.

In another scene an entitled bully admits to beating up three female factory workers who demanded a pay hike of three rupees. And when asked why he beat them, he answers : “Unhe unki aukaat dikhane ke liye”. And what is aukaat? “Aukaat wohi hai jo hum dete hain.” There is a lot of talk of aukaat and jaat in Article 15.

Article 15 isn’t just an important film, it’s a powerful one, and emotional art-kind-of film, which revolves around the issues around caste and gender discrimination that have been prevalent from ages. The film shows how powerful people misuse their power and money to do what they want and get away.