As a change, this time I have more to talk about the subject than the film, which powerfully brings forward an age old issue through its well-directed and superbly enacted narration that deserves to be seen.
Beginning with the harsh truth of the present era we have been witnessing since last many years. Cinema once used to be made with the sole purpose of entertaining the viewers along with projects made to enlighten, raising some relevant questions on our society as well the social system. However, at present the specific medium is very smartly being used as a tool to both propagate and oppose with films being made LEFT and RIGHT having specific political motives and timings.
Interestingly, where the makers have got divided, the viewers have gone through a similar division too, watching films with their own chosen glasses of various colours. As a result, when a film like ARTICLE 15 comes, its appreciation and criticism begins together even before the release as it suits one section and not the other for the obvious reasons.
Admitting the truth, there is no denial to the fact that ARTICLE 15 is another film made within the framework mentioned above. But at the same time it also points towards a much familiar curse of our society which cannot be ignored or denied by either the LEFT or the RIGHT with no possible justification or exception of any kind.
As a song-less film with no additional sub-plots, romance or comic insertions, ARTICLE 15 succeeds in raising the issue as a completely focused film seen through the viewpoint of a newly appointed IPS officer, who has been posted in a remote region of Uttar Pradesh, as a punishment for saying “Cool Sir” to his superiors.
Inspired by the real life killings in the region, it also reminds you of American crime thriller MISSISIPPI BURNING (1988) which was earlier unofficially adapted (almost scene to scene) by Priyadarshan in his Ajay Devgun starrer AAKROSH (2010). Directed by Anubhav Sinha who has thankfully found a new rhythm (as well as an intentional path) with his more impressive MULK (2018), ARTICLE 15 boldly talks about the caste system and the resulting exploitation prevailing in our society highlighted by the brutal gang rape and murder of three minor girls belonging to the ‘lower caste’.
At times it does become grim (mostly shot in night) going back to a docu-drama kind of narrative as seen in the famous Crime based TV serials (appealing to only niche audience), but still remains an important and worth watching film with a water-tight script, a rarity in the present times.
As the story progresses the execution shocks you with its various sharply written and directed sequences with a brilliant camerawork, lighting, art-design and note-worthy background score. The dialogues keep hitting hard right till the end, plus a few scenes remind you of the reality we are very much aware of, but yet keep on ignoring living our daily life. For instance, a naked man diving into the overflowing sever without any special equipment just to clean our mess and a politician bringing his own food and vessels to publicly eat with a Dalit.
ARTICLE 15 is also an almost perfect venture in its performance department remarkably led by Ayushmann Khurrana playing the honest cop. His mature act is spot-on with no over the top expressions and the actor is fast building an image or has already built an image of an artist who very well knows which projects he should be doing having something fresh to convey to the viewers. In fact filmgoers have already started saying that if it’s an Ayushmann film then it has to be worth trying without any doubt.
As I have mentioned several times before, a film actually becomes a worth watching creation when its supporting cast excels standing along the lead, providing him or her, the much required additional strength. The fact gets proved in ARTICLE 15 when almost everyone around Ayushmann give their best led by a superb Manoj Pahwa and a relatable Kumud Mishra as the two key police officers.
In addition, we have Aakash Dabhade (as Ayushmann’s friend), Isha Talwar (his wife), Sushil Pandey (as the subordinate policemen), Ronjini Chakraborty (the assistant doctor) and the veteran Nassar (playing the CBI officer) who are simply excellent in their respective parts. In a special appearance, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub leaves an impact (though his role seems to be forced) and Sayani Gupta visibly tries too hard playing the sister of the missing girl. On the other hand, the young actress playing Ayushmann’s maid is amazingly confident in her scenes and shakes you really hard in her last sequence.
Stating the downers, the film exposes itself of being a purposeful film and appears to be losing its focus, when the writer-director add too many elements in its narration ranging from a mahant (a religious political figure), his brigade of young followers, elections campaigns, references of whats-app hate messages in the speeches and dalits getting beaten to corrupt police officials, gang of revolutionaries and fake encounters.
But what left me really wondering was the scene, wherein the entire police brigade is seriously searching for the missing girl walking into the knee-deep dirty pond and yet talking to each other in a weird light hearted mode (including Ayushmann) mentioning the election symbols of various political parties. The entire scene as per the storyline is a complete mismatch because of their causal walk, funny dialogues and laughter incorporated, when they were all supposed to be dedicatedly searching for the girl or her body in their every next step.
Another major shortcoming of the film is a sudden rap song which starts playing right after its thought provoking end which again doesn’t match with the entire narrative of the film. God knows how and why Sinha thought of it or who gave the questionable suggestion to the director of inserting the song in the end suddenly changing the intense mood?
But above all, the most concerning aspect missing in the film in commercial terms is the weak portrayal of the main villain that should have been so strong creating a repulsive anger among the viewer. Probably these are the reasons, why at times I also found ARTICLE 15 as a hurriedly made film, trying to say too many things together with a specific target.
However this doesn’t take away anything from the fact that it is an important and well-made film which rightly reminds us about the questions we need to ask from ourselves about the centuries old traditions still being continuing in the new millennium defying all the logic, universal law and social values.
Hence, though ARTICLE 15 might not be as impactful as Anubhav Sinha’s last venture MULK, its an equally significant film (getting the same rating) and deserves to be seen by both the young and the old realizing the mistakes they might be making in the future or might have been making since decades respectively.
The film is also a must watch as it makes you realize another common blunder we keep on making every time we hear a crime committed in the remote regions or small towns involving the under-privileged or the lower castes. The blunder gets strongly pointed in an insightful dialogue of the film saying,
"Crime Bahut Door Hua Lagta Hai….. Door Hota Nahin Hai”
(Any Crime just appears to be happening with the other, far away from us……. whereas in reality it’s not happening that far as it seems.)
As a great extension of the thought above, another dialogue in the film states,
“We do not need a hero. We just need people to stop waiting for a hero.”
Worth giving a thought indeed!
And that’s one of the core purpose of films like ARTICLE 15 ….. to make us think!
Rating : 3.5 + 0.5 / 5 (with the additional 0.5 for being a courageous film made as need of the hour)
(Note: ARTICLE 15 is an important article of the Constitution of India that prohibits discrimination of any kind on grounds of religion, caste, race, sex or birth place.)
