'Article 15' hit me hard emotionally: Ayushmann

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana says working in "Article 15" turned to be an eye-opener and the film hit him hard emotionally.

"I played a police officer for the first time in my career. The story hit me hard emotionally and it was an eye-opener because we live in a protected world where such incidents are reported and watched on news channels and read in newspapers, but still fail to drive any action or debate," Ayushmann said.

"We as a society, see what is happening around us but we choose to ignore the truth, and opt to live in our convenient urban bubbles. I am content to see the film being the breakout title of the month on IMDb, as my aim was to leave an impact on the audience through the story and start a conversation on this," he added.

"Article 15", which also features Isha Talwar, Sayani Gupta, Kumud Mishra and Manoj Pahwa, aims to remind people about how Article 15 of the Constitution -- which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth -- is constantly violated by society. It has become the IMDb Breakout Title for the month of July.

Director Anubhav Sinha says his intent was to make the audience "question such incidents which are reported in the newspapers everyday but we are barely affected by them".

"I have always believed in raising issues in society through my story, as in India Bollywood has a huge influence on the people. I am glad that 'Article 15' is being highly rated on IMDb and my work could leave people with a thought after leaving the cinema halls," he added.