Movie Review: Mohalla Assi

The long-delayed multi-starrer, Mohalla Assi has released and most likely as every long-delayed film, it's dull and not worth a watch. The majorly flawed, exasperatingly uneven film, which has faced more than its share of censorship trouble, springs to life sporadically in the first half and then loses its way irretrievably in the second.

Sunny Deol, his bulk concealed beneath shapeless kurtas and dhotis, plays a Brahmin priest facing a crisis of faith in Varanasi in Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s Mohalla Assi. Adapted from Kashinath Singh’s 2004 novel Kashi Ki Assi. Sunny Deol is terribly miscast as the stuck-up pandit spearheading a kar sevak rally, resisting foreigner lodgers and moaning about the declining demand for Sanskrit teachers.

There is of course an air of realism in the film, but that innate strength is frittered away in the second half, which is wasted on a 'domestic drama' built around Sunny Deol's character, who is left behind by the rapid changes sweeping through Varanasi, and his clear-headed but suffering wife Savitri (Sakshi Tanwar).

And, with a lot of cuss words, nice attempt of acting and making a film, you won't regret missing this one. For me, it's 2/5 stars.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Mohalla Assi, Movie Review, Sunny Deol, Sakshi Tanwar, Ravi Kishan