Given that his upcoming social film Article 15 is inspired by true events, Ayushmann Khurrana turned to real cops to seek inspiration for his role, instead of scouting for resembling characters in cinema. In particular, friend of five years Manoj Malviya became the template that the actor decided to follow to play a cop investigating a murder in a small town that’s plagued by notions of caste divide.

"I am a friend of Manoj Malviya, who is a senior IPS officer based out of Calcutta and Delhi. Even though I met other cops, he became the prototype [of my character]. The idea was to meet someone who was transferred to the city [where the crime happens], and not one who belongs to it. Manoj is from Calcutta, but was recently transferred to Delhi. This film is also seen from an outsider's perspective; I'm the one who is not from the place and gets flustered by the goings-on when I reach there,” says the actor of his part in Anubhav Sinha's film.