''Mohalla Assi'' (; ) is a 2018 Indian

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-language satirical

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film starring Sunny Deol and Sakshi Tanwar, and directed by Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi. The film is loosely based on Dr.

Kashi Nath Singh Kashinath Singh ( hi, काशीनाथ सिंह, born 1937) is an Indian writer and scholar of Hindi language and known for writing novels and short stories in Hindi. He was formerly a professor of Hindi literature in Banaras Hindu Univ ...

's popular Hindi novel ''

Kashi Ka Assi ''Kashi Ka Assi'' is a 2004 Hindi novel written by Kashi Nath Singh. A movie, '' Mohalla Assi'' was made on this novel. Kashi Ka Assi can signify to the Assi that belongs to Kashi – the city or the author. He has added real people and real co ...

'', a satire on the commercialisation of the pilgrimage city, and fake gurus who lure the foreign tourists.

Assi Ghat Assi Ghat is the southernmost ghat in Varanasi. To most visitors to Varanasi, it is known for being a place where long-term foreign students, researchers, and tourists live. With hosting Subah-e-Banaras in the morning, assi ghat provides a spe ...

is a

ghat Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

(Banaras) on the banks of Ganges River, and the film is based in a famous and historical '

Mohalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social in ...

' (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. Sunny Deol plays the lead role of Sanskrit teacher and an orthodox religious priest (Pandit) while Sakshi Tanwar plays his wife. The story of the film goes through the events in 1990 and 1989 including

Ram Janmabhoomi Ram Janmabhoomi (literally, "Rama's birthplace") is the site that is hypothesized to be the birthplace of Rama, believed to be the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the ...

movement and

Mandal Commission The ''Mandal Commission'' or the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educa ...

implementation. On 30 June 2015, the release of Mohalla Assi was stayed by a Delhi court for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. After several delays, Mohalla Assi finally released on 16 November 2018.

Cast

* Sunny Deol as Pandey Ji * Sakshi Tanwar as Savitri *

Ravi Kishan Ravi Kishan Shukla (; born 17 July 1969), popularly known as Ravi Kishan, is an Indian actor, politician, film producer and television personality. He currently serves as Member of parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur. His film works are predo ...

as Kanni Guru *

Saurabh Shukla Saurabh Shukla (born 5 March 1963) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and film director who works in Hindi and a few Tamil and Telugu films. He is famous for his roles in ''Satya'' (1998), '' Nayak: The Real Hero'' (2001), '' Yuva'' (2004), ''L ...

as Upadhyay *

Mukesh Tiwari Mukesh Tiwari (born 24 August 1969) is an Indian actor, who has worked predominantly in Bollywood. and few Tamil films. He is known for playing negative and comic side roles. He entered the film industry in the year 1998 with the movie '' China ...

as Radheshyam *

Rajendra Gupta Rajendra Gupta (born 17 October 1947) is an Indian film, television and theatre actor and director who is known for his television roles of Adina Beg Khan Sahib e Azam in 2010 series of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Pandit Jagannath in the 1990s Doorda ...

as Virendra Srivastava *

Akhilendra Mishra Akhilendra Mishra is an Indian film and television character actor best known for his role as ''Kroor Singh'' in the 1990s Doordarshan fantasy television series '' Chandrakanta''. His other notable works include the character of ''Mirchi'' Se ...

as Tanni Guru *

Seema Azmi Seema Azmi (also known as "Seema") is an Indian film and theater actress. Biography Seema Azmi was born in Guwahati, Assam, India, with Azamgarh origin, and was brought up in Delhi where she completed her schooling and graduated from Delhi ...

as Ramdayi *

Mithilesh Chaturvedi Mithilesh Chaturvedi (15 October 1954 – 3 August 2022) was an Indian film and theatre actor. Biography Chaturvedi worked in '' Koi... Mil Gaya'', '' Gadar: Ek Prem Katha'', ''Krrish'', '' Satya'', '' Mohalla Assi'', and web series like '' ...

as Gaya Singh(Retired Principal) * Faisal Rashid as Nakka * Davinder Singh * Mohit Sinha * Naresh Jang * Vaibhav Mishra * Shrichand Makhija * Md. Rahman Jony * Ishtiyaq Anas ( Akram Ishtiyaq) *

Daya Shankar Pandey Daya Shankar Pandey (born 19 November 1965) is an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in a number of Hindi movies like ''Lagaan'' (2001), ''Gangaajal'' (2003), ''Swades'' (2004) and ''Raajneeti'' (2010). He began his career with the ...

as Shiva Imposter *

as Radheshyam

Production

Dwivedi had previously directed '' Pinjar'' (2003), starring

Urmila Matondkar Urmila Matondkar (born 4 February 1974) is an Indian actress and politician. Known for her work primarily in Hindi films, in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil films, she has received numerous accolades, including the Filmfar ...

and

Manoj Bajpayee Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema and has also done Telugu and Tamil language films. Regarded as one of the finest actors of Hindi cinema, he i ...

, and most known for television epic ''

Chanakya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭil ...

''. Ameesha Patel was offered the female lead role but turned it down because of financial differences with the film's producer. 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 Film City may refer to * Film City, Mumbai * Noida Film City * Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad * Prayag Film City The Prayag Film City, also known as the Midnapore Film City or Chandrakona Film City or Bengal film city is an i ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, later scenes were also shot in Varanasi where film is set.

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, The release date of Mohalla Assi has been repeatedly pushed back and allegations of non-payment have continued to surface through 2012. However, the film is now ready for release in October–November 2015. After extended delays, on 12 June 2015 film's trailer was released, ahead on its late 2015 release. Shortly after, an FIR was filed in

against Deol and Dwivedi for the alleged use of abusive language in the film. The film has been banned by the CBFC on 8 April 2016. On 11 December 2017, Delhi High Court allowed the release of the film with one cut and adult certification, setting aside the order of CBFC. . After so many delays, Sunny Deol announced the release date on 21 September 2018. It was released on 16 November 2018.

Online piracy issue

Prior to its release Mohalla Assi leaked online on 11 August 2015.

Critical reception

It received negative reviews from critics. Jyoti Sharma Bawa of Hindustan Times stated that Mohalla Assi is a delight to watch film and gave it 2 out of 5 stars. Kunal Guha of Mumbai Mirror stated the film is a beautiful and realistic depiction of Varanasi's issues and gave it 1.5 out of 5 star. Troy Ribeiro of News18 stated that the film is verbose yet important and gave it 2 stars. Reza Noorani of Times of India stated "At two hours of runtime, 'Mohalla Assi' feels more like an anti-tourism commercial rather than a feature film" and gave it 2 stars.

Box office

Mohalla Assi collected around 1.30 crore on first day. The fim grossed 14.49 crore in its first weekend in India. and lifetime 18.57cr.

Soundtrack

The songs of the film are composed by Amod Bhatt while lyrics are written by

Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohalla Assi 2018 films 2010s satirical films Indian satirical films 2010s Hindi-language films Films based on Indian novels Films set in Uttar Pradesh Films set in 1989 Films directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi