After playing a boy-next-door in his previous films, Ayushmann Khurrana was seen as a tough cop in Article 15. The hard-hitting social drama threw light on the ugly reality of caste discrimination in the country, but the impact of Article 15 wasn't limited to the big screen. The Anubhav Sinha-directed Article 15 is now being used as a weapon to fight caste discrimination in villages.

Ramesh Rana, vice president of the Punjab Unit of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), who has been helping people of Dhar village in Punjab for the last 15 years in their fight for water, chanced upon Article 15. The opening scene of the film resonated with Rana, and he picked up Article 15 as a weapon in his fight to end caste discrimination in the villages of Punjab.

People from schedule castes in Dhar village, near Pathankot, Punjab, have been victims of caste-based discrimination for quite some time now. They are not allowed access to water from the mountains.

Rana fought the water war for schedule castes in 2004, when the people of upper-caste communities in Dhar blocked the water from the mountains. They considered the water their sole right, making lives difficult for people of schedule castes living in lower region.

Rana couldn't win the battle back in 2004, but he is now using Article 15 as a weapon to fight against the discrimination, reported The Tribune.

Two days after Article 15 hit the theatres, Rana organised a meeting with the Democratic Mulazim Federation (DMF), comprising Asha, Anganwadi and forest workers, Construction Workers Union and the Pendu Mulazim Union, to raise funds to show the film in the villages of Pathankot.

Amarjit Shastri, vice president of the Punjab DMF, is now preparing a list of villages where caste-based prejudices still exist.

Rana first showed Article 15 to his union workers at a theatre in Pathankot. From the money raised at the theatre, they bought a projector. Now, they will show the film in villages to raise awareness on caste discrimination.

Ayushmann Khurrana took to Instagram to share this story, speaking of the impact that his film has made.

Watch the trailer of Article 15 here:

Article 15 begins with the scene where a policeman, accompanying Ayushmann Khurrana, refuses to bring water from a village comprising people from Scheduled Castes. This is the scene that resonated with Ramesh Rana and made him take up the film as the weapon to end caste-based discrimination in Punjab.

Article 15 collected Rs 91.7 crore at the box office. It is one of those rare Bollywood films which was both critically acclaimed and a commercial success.

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