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

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film starring

Sunny Deol Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1957), better known as Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, and politician. One of the highest grossing actors of Indian cinema, he has worked in Sunny Deol filmography, more than 100 Hindi ...

and

Sakshi Tanwar Sakshi Tanwar is an Indian actress and presenter, who primarily works in Hindi films and television. Tanwar is considered among the highest-paid television actresses in India. Tanwar is widely recognised for her portrayal of Parvati Agarwal in ...

, and directed by Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi. The film is loosely based on Dr. Kashi Nath 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 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. The ghat hosts Subah-e-Banaras, a cultural and spiritual event, in t ...

is a

ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or 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 tradition of I ...

(Banaras) on the banks of

Ganges River The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, 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 inst ...

' (locality) by the ghat, on the southern end of Banaras. Also starring Ravi Kishen and

, the film is set in the post-independence period.

plays the lead role of Sanskrit teacher and an orthodox religious priest (Pandit) while

plays his wife. The story of the film goes through the events in 1990 and 1989 including

Ram Janmabhoomi Ram Janmabhoomi () is the site that, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is the birthplace of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu rive ...

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 educatio ...

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

as Pandey Ji *

as Savitri *

Ravi Kishan Ravindra 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. He received a ''Sansad ...

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 language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu films. He is best known for his roles in ''Satya (1998 film), Satya'' (1998), ...

as Upadhyay *

Mukesh Tiwari Mukesh Tiwari is an Indian actor, who has worked predominantly in Bollywood and few Tamil, Punjabi, Kannada and Telugu films. He is known for playing negative and comic side roles. He graduated from National School of Drama National Scho ...

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 theatre 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 '' S ...

as Gaya Singh (Retired Principal) *

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 t ...

as Shiva Imposter *

as Radheshyam * Faisal Rashid as Nakka * Davinder Singh * Mohit Sinha * Naresh Jang * Vaibhav Mishra * Shrichand Makhija * Md. Rahman Jony * Ishtiyaq Anas * Ambujeshwar Pandey

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 cinema, Hindi films, in addition to Telugu cinema, Telugu, Malayalam cinema, Malayalam, Marathi cinema, Marathi and Tamil cinema ...

and

Manoj Bajpayee Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of numerous accolades including four National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, and two ...

, and most known for television epic ''

Chanakya Chanakya (ISO 15919, ISO: ', चाणक्य, ), according to legendary narratives preserved in various traditions dating from the 4th to 11th century CE, was a Brahmin who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragup ...

''.

Ameesha Patel Ameesha Patel (; born 9 June 1975) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi and Telugu films. Patel is the recipient of several awards such as a Filmfare Award and a Zee Cine Award. Patel made her acting debut in 2000 with the romantic ...

was offered the female lead role but turned it down because of financial differences with the film's producer.

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 Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, 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 was repeatedly pushed back and allegations of non-payment continued to surface through 2012. However, the film became eventually 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 Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

was filed in

against Deol and Dwivedi for the alleged use of abusive language in the film. The film was 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 Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poetry, 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 era. He starte ...

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 Film censorship in India Censored films Films about social issues in India Works subject to a lawsuit Films shot in Varanasi Films about Hinduism Films about the caste system in India Hinduism-related controversies in film Religious controversies in India 2010s controversies Works subject to expurgation