Mohalla Assi movie review: Cut version of an important film

Director: Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi Cast: Sunny Deol, Sakshi Tanwar, Rajendra Gupta, Ravi Kishen, Saurabh Shukla There are films that stand the test of time, more because of the content than anything else. Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s latest film Mohalla Assi is based on Dr Kashi Nath Singh’s popular Hindi novella Kashi Ka Assi, which was a satire on the commercialisation of the pilgrimage city, and fake gurus who lure the foreign tourists. I haven’t read the book, but I am drawing my conclusion after watching a rather butchered 120 minute version of the original 150 minute film that has been mired in controversy ever since it went on the floors in 2011. Set in 1988, the film begins on the Assi Ghat in Varanasi on the banks of the Ganga, where the historical ‘Mohalla’ on the southern end of Banaras forms the backdrop. There are places where I marveled at the sheer audacity with which the snip of the film censorship scissors got passed, though there are several places where you also get the feeling that you are viewing a much watered-down version of some contentious scenes.