WATCH: Ahead of the release of Article 15, Ayushmann Khurrana urges fans to sign a petition

Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana's upcoming venture 'Article 15' which deals with the social injustice and caste discrimination is all set to hit the theaters. Ahead of the same, the actor on Monday, June 17, started a movement called #DontSayBhangi anymore to ban the use of the word 'Bhangi' as a derogatory word and promote his upcoming film. He took to social media and shared a short clip where he can be seen carrying his film's character, a no-nonsense cop. 

The video with a strong social message featured a small poor boy visiting the police station to sell tea. Sushil Kumar, who is essaying the role of a constable, after sipping the tea shuns it in a derogatory manner by calling the little boy 'bhangi'. For the unaware, 'Bhangi' is a caste in India, member of which are traditionally restricted to cleaning latrines and handling dead bodies. 

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Following the incident, Ayushmann imparts the knowledge about how 'Article 15' of the Indian constitution identifies every kind of social intolerance as a criminal act. He further pleads to his followers to spread a message about equality and asks them to collectively step forward in reinforcing the integrity of Indians by implementing a ban on the usage of the word 'bhangi'.

"Galti toh kisi se bhi ho sakti hai, par hum kisiki tulna neechi jaati ke logo se kyun karte hai? Kya inke khilaaf apka yeh nazaria theek hai? Isse aaj hi badaliye. Sign the petition #DontSayBhangi, now, " he captioned the video.

Here's the post:

The actor also asked citizens to sign the petition so that the voices can reach out to the government and they can take necessary steps towards blending the divide in the Indian society and erasing the traces of casteism in India.

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'Article 15', directed by Anubhav Sinha, is inspired by the heinous Badaun rape incident where two teenage girls were gang-raped and gruesomely murdered by hanging them while they were still alive. The trailer of the film, which was released some time back, narrated the hard-hitting tale of the honour killing and the feckless attitude of the police department in dealing with the matters.

Apart from Ayushmann, the film also stars Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Kumud Mishra, M Naser, Ashish Verma, Sushil Pandey, Subrajyoti Bharat, and Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub in the film. The film, produced by Benaras Media Works, is slated to hit the theatres on June 28.

(With inputs from ANI)