‘Article 15’ Banned in Roorkee, Director to Take Legal Action
The film was earlier stalled in Kanpur following protests from Brahmin outfits.
A day after the screening of Article 15 was stalled in Kanpur following protests by a few Brahmin outfits, the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer ran into trouble again over law and order concerns, this time in Roorkee, Uttarakhand.
On Saturday, 30 June, Roorkee’s Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ravindra Singh Negi passed an order prohibiting the screening of Article 15 in the city after representatives of the Hindu Sena approached him demanding a ban on the film for showing “a particular community in bad light.” “My view was that if the film is screened in the city, it could lead to law and order issues,” he said in a statement to Bombay Times.
The Anubhav Sinha directorial is loosely based on the 2014 Badaun rape case. It stars Ayushmann Khurrana as a police officer from Delhi who is sent to a village in North India to investigate the murder of two young girls. In the process, he must come to terms with the atrocities of the caste system that is deeply entrenched in the region.
According to reports, the SDM directed RR cinema, the only theatre in Roorkee, to cancel its shows. The publication quoted Roorkee Station House Officer (SHO) Amarjeet Singh as saying, “We received the orders and ensured that they were enforced. As of now, the film isn’t being screened in the city.” An employee at the theatre, on the condition of anonymity, said that they complied with the order especially since it stated that the theatre would be held responsible if any untoward incident took place.
In response to the film’s ban in Roorkee, Anubhav Sinha has said that he is seeking legal advice and will challenge the matter in court.
On 28 June, the screening of Article 15 was stalled in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, after members of various Brahmin outfits such as the Akhil Bhartiya Brahmin Ekta Parishad, Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha, Parshuram Sarva Kalyan and Brahmin Mahasabha protested outside cinema halls against the release of the film.
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