Article 15 banned in Roorkee citing 'law & order concerns'; director Anubhav Sinha contemplates legal action

Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Article 15  has been banned in a city in Uttarakhand due to law and order concern and its director Anubhav Sinha intends to take legal action.

The civic administration in Roorkee has stalled the screening of Article 15, citing law and order concerns, reports said, a day after the film was banned in Kanpur . The film, said to be inspired by true events, offers a realistic take on Article 15 of the Indian Constitution which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

Director-producer Anubhav Sinha took to Twitter and said, “Seeking legal action. The film has been received well by both audience and critics. It has apparently earned Rs over 31 crore globally.. Will challenge it in the court.”

The social thriller talks about caste discrimination and is  reportedly  loosely based on the 2014 Badaun rape case, where two girls belonging to a lower caste in Uttar Pradesh were allegedly gangraped and hanged to death from a tree. A commentary on the country’s caste system, the film has drawn ire from the Brahmin community in Uttar Pradesh.

Ahead of its release, certain Brahmin outfits had alleged that the film maligns their community by portraying its members in a negative light. Members of various Brahmin organisations like Akhil Bhartiya Brahmin Ekta Parishad, Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha, Parshuram Sarva Kalyan and Brahmin Mahasabha raised slogans against the actors and the producer  and defaced the posters of the film.

A day before the release of the film, Anubhav had also issused an  open letter , reassuring the Hindu outfits that his film does not ‘disrespect’ the Brahmin community. Written entirely in Hindi,  he said that a film’s intention is never to disrespect a society and  one should not judge a film from its trailer.

(With inputs from Press trust of India)