Ayushmann Khurrana‘s film Article 15 has dropped the jaws of Indian audience and has now picked up the Audience Award at the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF).Also Read - Is Your Name Lucky For You? Find Out.
The 10th edition of the UK and Europe’s South Asian film festival, supported by the Bagri Foundation and the British Film Institute (BFI), opened with Anubhav Sinha’s hard-hitting thriller Article 15 on June 20. The film won the Audience Award on June 29. Also Read - Zee5’s #Helmeton Campaign Encourages Conversations Around Safe Sex And Condom Usage
The investigative thriller features Ayushmannn as a police officer, with Sayani Gupta, Kumud Mishra, Isha Talwar and Manoj Pahwa in key roles. “I am delighted to have won the LIFF Audience Award,” Sinha said in a statement. Also Read - On Ayushmann Khurrana's Birthday, Wife Tahira Shares a Major Throwback Photo From College Days
“So happy that the film actually connected with Indians abroad and with non-Indians alike, who are not facing this version of inequality on a daily basis,” he added.
To this, Vibha Chopra, Head-Global Syndication and International Film Distribution, ZEE Entertainment, added, “While the film is so rooted in the heartland, we were always confident that the film has a global resonance and winning at the prestigious LIFF showcases that the film has found its audience and appreciation outside of India as well. The validation at LIFF only reinforces our belief that good content is geography agnostic and drives us to take our cinema far and wide”.
Article 15 had a decent start at the Box Office. It garnered Rs 5.02 crore on day one.
The film has been suspended in Kanpur following protests by a religious group. A group entered the Inox multiplex and Sapna Palace theatres on Friday and stopped the screening of the film. They shouted slogans against the filmmaker and also tore posters.
Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the film aims to remind people about Article 15 of the Constitution, about prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and how its value has been forgotten.
Based on “shocking true events,” Article 15 also features Manoj Pahwa, Isha Talwar, Kumud Mishra and Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub. The film is slated to release on June 28.
This is the first time Sinha and Ayushmann Khurrana are teaming up for a project. Speaking about his upcoming project, Anubhav Sinha had earlier said, “It is an investigative drama where the audience too is an accused party”.
(With inputs from IANS)