Mohalla Assi

Mohalla Assi is a banned Indian Bollywood satirical film starring Sunny Deol,^[1] and directed by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi.^[2]

The film is loosely based on Dr. Kashinath Singh's popular Hindi novel Kashi Ka Assi, a satire on the commercialisation of the pilgrimage city, and fake gurus who lure the foreign tourists. Assi Ghat is a ghat in Varanasi (Banaras) on the banks of Ganges River, and the film is based in a famous and historical 'Mohalla' (locality) by the ghat, on the southern end of Banaras. Also starring Ravi Kishen and Sakshi Tanwar, the film is set in the post-independence period.^[3]

Sunny Deol plays the lead role of Sanskrit teacher and an orthodox religious priest (Pundit) while Sakshi Tanwar plays his wife.^[4] The story of the film goes through the events in 1990 and 1989 including Ram Janmabhoomi movement and Mandal Commission implementation.

On 30 June 2015, the release of Mohalla Assi was stayed by a Delhi court for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.^[5] Prior to its release Mohalla Assi leaked online on 11 August 2015.^[6][7][8]

Cast

• Sunny Deol
• Ravi Kishan
• Sakshi Tanwar
• Saurabh Shukla
• Mukesh Tiwari
• Rajendra Gupta
• Mithilesh Chaturvedi
• Seema Azmi
• Faisal Rashid
• Davinder singh
• Mohit Sinha

Production^[9]

Dwivedi had previously directed Pinjar (2003), starring Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpai, and most known for television epic Chanakya.^[2] Ameesha Patel was offered the female lead role but turned it down because of financial differences with the film's producer.^[10] Sakshi Tanwar was cast as her replacement.

The principal photography of the film started on 28 January 2011 on the sets erected at the Film City, Mumbai, later scenes were also shot in Varanasi where film is set. The film is nearing completion and is slated to release around post monsoon all over India and oversears.^[11][12] After March 2011, the film moved into post-production stage and aiming for January, 2012 release.^[3][13]

Release

Mohalla Assi was initially delayed for three years as the film director had stopped the work claiming that he had not been paid his dues,^[14] The release date of Mohalla Assi has been repeatedly pushed back and allegations of non-payment have continued to surface through 2012. ^{[15] [16]} However, the film is now ready for release in October–November 2015.^[17][18]

After extended delays, on 12 June 2015 film's trailer was released, ahead on its late 2015 release.^[19] Shortly after, an FIR was filed in Varanasi against Deol and Dwivedi for the alleged use of abusive language in the film.^[20]

The film has been banned by the CBFC on 8th April 2016.^[21]

References

External links

• Mohalla Assi at the Internet Movie Database
• Mohalla Assi at Bollywood Hungama