Mohalla Assi (2018)

I'll tell you why so serious

Best movie ever!

Absolutely Fantastic

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

We talk about culture and our heritages, we talk about our great past but when it comes to movies like these which show us the mirror, what we have become and where we are leading, we start looking on the other side. This film shows how India has changed in just a decade or two. And it all happened so fast that we just could not find a balance. Mohalla Assi might not be a technically great film, it might not have best of the actors or direction but it conveys what it intends to. It raises few very pertinent questions about social structure, culture, greed, religious sentiments and most importantly about human behavior. Watch it. Offer it your time. Taste this part of India. You will not be disappointed

Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi beautifully recreates the Mohalla Assi in this religious/political satire based the novel Kashi Ka Assi. The neighborhood of Assi itself is the protagonist of this movie. The identity of Assi is not just defined by the fact that it is ghat along the holy river, rather it is the also the people who live in that locality. People participate in daily "parliamentary discussions" on the changing society and importance of culture at the only place in Varanasi that has democracy, Pappu's tea shop. The characters in the tea shop look straight out of a satire novel in Hindi. The conversations at this shop tie the whole script together and take the story forward. What makes it worth watching is the context that is set around it. It also tries to depict the impact that major religion- based political events had on the people of the society. The humor is very intelligent and contextual, since it is a satire.The story of the movie was a simple one, where a diligent and honest priest struggles to make ends meet, whereas other half baked gurus dupe the tourists to mint money and lead a comfortable life. It shows how westerners come to the city in search of spirituality and have no clue about what they want. How the city in its own corrupt ways connives to thug them, thereby destroying the moral fabric of it's culture one bit at a time. Ravi Kishan and other supporting characters deliver a wonderful performance as the whole locality revolves around these tourists.Sunny Deol as the righteous priest beautifully projects the perplexities that the character goes through as he comes to term with the practical challenges of life. However, it is Sakshi Tanwar, as his wife, who really delivers a stand out performance, questioning his eccentricities and still standing by him as a pillar of support. Together they go through their struggles, to find a way to live with their values in this world.The film got banned because of the cuss words used in the movie, but as a character says that in the culture of Varanasi, everyone is greeted with "bhosadi k" just like they are greeted with "Har Har Mahadev".

When the trailer came out I was pretty disappointed and expected it to be another PK, a forced comedy at cost of ridiculing one religion. I still watched the movie for Chandraprakash Dwiwedi since I consider him to be a non commercial director who gave us Chanakya and he did not disappoint.The movie turned out to be entirely refreshing experience.Sunny Deol lives with his wife on a hand to mouth existence in Benaras because he does not want to compromise on his values.He sees people giving in to their aspirations and leading a better life and one day is compelled to take the same route when he decides to move with times.But you cant suppress your inner soul and one day he returns to his original faith and finds peace.Don't want to give out details of story since its not yet released but would surely call this Sunny Deol's best performance till date.There is nothing in the movie that mocks any religion and the scene where lord Shiva abuses Sunny Deol is in a different context altogether and very very relevant, in fact one of the finest scene of the movie.Hope it releases one day and when it does, don't miss it.

This is a fantastic adaptation of Dr. Kashinath Singh's satire "Kashi Ka Assi". Well directed. The performance by each and every actor is very relatable to anyone who is familiar with the tradition Brahmin sections of India. One quote got stuck in my mind - "in past we used to have Bazaar's in our communities, now the each community is struggling to to breathe in the global Bazaar(Marketplace)". This one quote reflects the struggle each Indian is facing in preserving our traditions and fulfilling our aspirations. India is no more a country where its tradition and rituals get patronage of the rich, unless it becomes commercial. This has become a land where a learned priest who follows all the tenets of his religion is poor while a half baked guru peddling nonsense is rich with money and millions of followers. Sunny Deol, the action hero as we know him, has delivered a perfectly controlled and superb performance. The supporting cast of Sakshi Tanwar, Ravi Kishan and the rest are equally good. This is a must see, and is sad to see not one review for this movie on IMDb, while the mindless action films like Dabbang get hundreds. This is exactly what this movie is about - the modern Indian does not care about his society, its traditions and culture. Wish to see more movies like this one.