Mohalla Assi trailer: Sunny Deol cusses his way through Varanasi's Assi Ghat

Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s Mohalla Assi was stuck with censorship issues for years. The film, starring Sunny Deol and Sakshi Tanwar, was recently finally passed for release. The film will hit the theatres on 16 November.

The story of the film takes place at the famous Assi Ghat of the Ganga river in Benares (Varanasi). Dharmnath Pandey (Deol) is a staunch Hindu priest and a Sanskrit teacher. Even though Ganga is polluted, it is still pure for Pandey and cannot stand anyone insulting it.

The film also explores the dark activities carried out in Benares in the name of "Indian culture".

Although the film was made a few years ago, it looks timely only because it deals with the Babri Masjid issue of Ayodhya. Hindutva fundamentalists and some politicians have been wanting to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya ever since BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader Lal Krishna Advani started the movement for it in the early 1990s. It would be interesting to know if the film takes any sides.

But other than this, the boldness of the trailer looks manufactured. The utterance of one cuss word, used repeatedly, looks forced.

Deol looks like a traditional priest, but isn’t completely convincing when it comes to dialogue delivery. Ravi Kishan, Sakshi Tanwar and Saurabh Shukla’s acts look promising though.

Watch the trailer below: