Ayushmann Khurrana says 'want such films to pull back people to theatres'

Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer ‘Article 15’ released today two years ago. The actor was widely appreciated for his portrayal of ASP Ayan Ranjan, and on the movie’s second release anniversary, he opened up about working on the project. The ‘Vicky Donor’ actor, while speaking about ‘Article 15’, also said that he feels superlative content will be the driving force to bring people back to theatres post-pandemic. 

Ayushmann, who is known for portraying diverse roles with perfection, said, “Article 15 is a special film in my filmography and I can’t thank Anubhav Sinha sir for giving me one of the most cherished films of my career. It was an eye-opening film for me and helped me see things from a different lens.” 

He added, “We will need films like Article 15, with its superlative content, to pull people back to theatres.” 

The actor further said, “We will need to be disruptive and present fresh content for people to enjoy, engage and discuss. I’m a firm believer that the pandemic and lockdowns have made us more opinionated than before and people would only want to invest time and energy on things that are unique and different. They would want to have community experiences that are worthwhile.” 

The young star is a firm believer that fresh, unique and disruptive cinema will manage to restart the theatrical business in India.

He said, “Cinema will provide them with that option but we will have to produce the best content that we have ever produced. People will want to be entertained with films that celebrate new ideas. The scale of the film will be immaterial because content will take precedence in a whole new world.” 

Ayushmann added, “People have already been exposed to brilliant content from across the world. So, for them to step out to a theatre to watch a film they need a huge incentive and content will play this crucial role. People will want to watch brilliant films. So, let’s all aim to provide audiences with that and successfully restart our industry and the exhibition sector.” 

Coming back to ‘Article 15’, it was helmed by Anubhav Sinha. In the movie, Ayushmann played an IPS officer, who had to investigate the rape and murder of two Dalit sisters, whose bodies were left to be displayed for the whole village. 

The rape case featured in the movie drew inspiration from the brutal Badaun case, where two girls belonging to a backward caste were allegedly raped, murdered and hanged from a tree. 

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It also drew inspiration from the Una flogging case, where members of a Dalit family were assaulted by cow vigilantes for allegedly killing cows. 

Ayushmann was last seen in Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, alongside megastar Amitabh Bachchan. The star has an exciting lineup of films in the pipeline including ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, directed by Abhishek Kapoor, ‘Anek’, directed by Anubhav Sinha and ‘Doctor G’, directed by Anubhuti Kashyap.

-with ANI inputs