Mohalla Assi

Mohalla Assi (transl. The neighbourhood of Assi Ghat; Hindi pronunciation: [moːɦəllaː əssiː]) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language satirical drama film starring Sunny Deol and Sakshi Tanwar, and directed by Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi. 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. The film is a satirical drama that explores the commercialization of religion and the changing social and political landscape of Varanasi in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The film's supporting cast includes Saurabh Shukla, Mukesh Tiwari, Ravi Kishan and Rajendra Gupta. 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 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. After several delays, Mohalla Assi finally released on 16 November 2018.