A 2019 Marathi film on loudspeakers to release ahead of BMC elections

A pre-wedding procession mutes celebrations as it passes a mosque, but while the wedding is solemnised, a loudspeaker announcement of a death from the mosque drowns out the ritual. It angers people assembled there, leading to a debate on use of loudspeakers. This is the trailer of Bhonga, which won the 2019 national award for ‘best Marathi film.’

Producer Amol Kagne said that he had made the film some time ago, and it was a ‘coincidence’ that it would be released on May 3, when the political debate has heated up over use of loudspeakers in mosques. “My film is about the issue of loudspeakers causing problems, mostly newborns, whose sleep patterns are disrupted due to azaan and the debate in a village following this,” Kagne told ET.

The film has already attracted several comments on social media. Kagne claimed his movie’s aim was to ‘address a social issue, not a religious one’. “There is no heated atmosphere now; only one community is trying to heat it up. If you see the film, it also talks about impact of loudspeakers in temples and marriage ceremonies. But we have focused more on azaan, as the movie looks at competition between softhearted members of the community and radicals,” Kagne claimed.

“We could not screen the film in the last two years due to Covid-19 The release now is purely coincidental,” Kagne claimed. Incidentally, there was no pandemic scare in India in 2019. Kagne said that after trailers of the movie was out, he received threats. “I have got mixed reactions. People have lauded the film while a few called up to abuse me and questioned why I was bothered about how a community prayed.

However, I am used to threats,” Kagne said. In 2017, Kagne produced ‘Halal’ which looked in to the practice of Halala. He, however, said that he has ‘no association with any party’. “I don’t support any political party. In my constituency, I vote depending on the candidate and issues one promises to resolve.”

BJP and MNS may tap the movie to further their campaign against use of loudspeakers in mosques, ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections. “A few MNS leaders have already watched the film. I have been told that even Raj Thackeray liked the film, though I don’t know whether he has watched it,” Kagne said.