Sunny Deol's Mohalla Assi finally to be shot in Varanasi

Mumbai: Major portions of Chandraprakash Dwivedi's Mohalla Assi starring Sunny Deol, have been shot in Mumbai studios on sets that 'recreate' the city of Varanasi.

This has had purists from Uttar Pradesh seeing red.

The film is based on Kashinath Singh's Kashi Ki Assi, a work of literature that these purists consider "inviolable" and "sacrosanct". They'd rather the film's unit shot on location in Varanasi.

The director defends his decision. "Ideally, we'd have liked to shoot the film completely on the ghats of Varanasi.

But Sunny is so popular in the region, and thousands and thousands of fans descended on location to see him.

It was impossible to shoot there. The last time Sunny shot in Varanasi was for Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghatak 15 years ago. And that was just a few sequences. His popularity has not waned at all."

Hang on! Didn't Sunny shoot for Yamla Pagla Deewana in the holy city? Dwivedi lets the cat out of the bag.

"No, YPD was shot in a place called Maheshwari which resembles the place in every detail. We will be the first crew to shoot a Hindi film in the heart of Varanasi. Even Anurag Kashyap, who was in the region recently shooting for Gangs Of Wasseypur, shot a little distance away."

Sunny now leaves for Varanasi under strict security bandobast. Informs Diwedi, "We only shot the interior sequences in the studios of Mumbai. All the outdoor sequences will now be shot on location under the strict supervision of the local government's security arrangements."

Apparently, Up Chief Minister Mayawati who likes Deol films, has assured the star of all necessary security. "We're prepared to handle the crowds now," the director confidently concludes.