Anek trailer: Ayushmann Khurrana jumps into Hindi language debate in Anubhav Sinha’s film

The first trailer for Ayushmann Khurrana’s upcoming film Anek has been released. The film will be released in theatres on May 27, after it was pushed a week to avoid a clash with the Ranveer Singh-starrer Jayeshbhai Jordaar.
Anek is a political action thriller directed Anubhav Sinha. The filmmaker first collaborated with Ayushmann on the dramatic-thriller Article 15. The film earned critical acclaim and was a hit, but finished on the lower end of Ayushmann’s commercial spectrum. The actor has starred in multiple Rs 100 crore-plus hits. Anek’s trailer, as it puts the focus on North East India, asks a pertinent question — what makes one Indian.

In Anek, Ayushmann plays an agent named Joshua, who is sent on a mission in the North East of the country. His job: to neutralise a threat being posed separats. One group in particular, Joshua says in the trailer, is attracting special attention to itself. The group is lead the formidable leader Johnson. And so, he enls a woman to infiltrate the group to gather intelligence.

The film also appears to be jumping, albeit inadvertently, into the ongoing ‘Hindi is a national language‘ debate spurred Ajay Devgn recently. In a confrontation that will remind viewers of a similar scene from Article 15, Ayushmann asks a man from Telangana why he thinks of him as North Indian. When the man says that it is probably because his Hindi is clean, Joshua replies, “So Hindi decides who is from the North and the South?” When the man says no, Joshua says, “So, it’s not about Hindi, either!”
In an Instagram post announcing the wrap on the film, Ayushmann described it as being ‘full of surprises’ and about an ‘untouched subject’. In a statement, Ayushmann said, “Anek, is a project that’s extremely close to my heart and it’s a powerful film because it should invoke a sense of patriotism amongst audiences.” The actor said that the film will also ask the question, “What does it mean to be Indian?”
Anek also stars regular Anubhav Sinha collaborators such as Manoj Pahwa and Kumud Mishra. Ayushmann will next be seen Doctor G, directed Anubhuti Kashyap, and An Action Hero, directed Anirudh Iyer. He was last seen in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui.