Raj Thackeray’s MNS colleagues now present Bhonga, a film on loudspeakers for azaan

Shivaji Lotan Patil’s social drama Bhonga (2021) was released on the Zee5 OTT platform last year. The film is now set to be released in theatres on 3 May. The movie deals with the subject of loudspeakers used to air azaan, or the Islamic call to prayer, from mosques.

Bhonga has got the backing of politician Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Party leaders Amey Khopkar and Sandeep Deshpande have come on board as presenters along with actor Amol Kagne.

Thackeray has kicked up a row over the issue of the use of loudspeakers by mosques, issuing an 'ultimatum' to the state government to ensure that mosques across Maharashtra remove their loudspeakers, 'bhonga' in Marathi, by May 3 or face his party workers playing the Hanuman Chalisa in front of them. Some party members have reportedly started doing that in a few places already.

May 3 is also likely to be the date Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated in India this year.

Bhonga is still available on Zee5. Neither the MNS nor any of its members has been connected with the film earlier. So the move to release it now in theatres, more than seven months after it was released on a streaming platform, appears to be a political move.

Bhonga stars Kagne with Dipti Dhotre, Kapil Kamble Gudsurkar and Shripad Joshi.