Nod likely to film with ‘cuss words’

The film Mohalla Assi, which was denied certification by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for over a year, is now likely to be given a green signal by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT). The movie, starring Sunny Deol, is based on award-winning Hindi writer Kashinath Singh’s novel Kashi ka Assi.

Sources said that filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi had aproached the FCAT after the film was stuck for several months at the CBFC’s examining and revising committees. It is understood that the Tribunal is likley to clear the film soon.

The FCAT met for a special screening of the movie in the presence of Mr Dwivedi and writer Kashinath Singh, sources said.

The film was denied certification despite Mr Dwivedi being a member of the CBFC, headed by Pahlaj Nihalani, and is also considered close to the ruling dispensation. The film was denied certification on the grounds that it was “full of abusive words” and that it could hurt the sentiments “of a particular local area” and cause a “law and order problem". The film was submitted to the CBFC on March 22, and on April 11, it was “refused certification” on these grounds. Some parts of the movie have already been leaked on social media platforms and YouTube, fulelling further controversy.

The film maps the day-to-day life of the people of Banaras, especially the neighbourhood called Assi.

Kashinath Singh, a Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer, is known as one of the best chroniclers of Varanasi. The filmmakers had pleaded with the FCAT that abusive words were an integral part of speech across various languages.