‘Superboys of Malegaon’ is based on a tiny film movement started by Nasir Shaikh in Malegaon. This isn’t a remake of Faiza Ahmed Khan’s charming documentary ‘Supermen of Malegaon’ (2008), but rather a companion piece, and extension of this fascinating true story.
Nasir (Adarsh Gourav) runs a single screen movie theater which caters to the people of Malegaon – a small Muslim community unnoticed by the glamorous world of Bollywood. Uninterested in limiting himself to the latest releases, he screens everything from Hollywood classics to personal cuts of martial arts films. The people of Malegaon eat it up, until the police point out that what he’s doing is called film piracy. That doesn’t stop Nasir though. If he can’t show his versions of other movies, he might as well start making his own. Nasir, the crafty, passionate producer and director, gathers his cast and crew. Farogh (Vineet Kumar Singh), is the angsty writer. Shafique (Shashank Arora) is the AD patiently waiting for his big break. Akram (Anuj Singh Duhan), Irfan (Saqib Ayub), and Aleem (Pallav Singh) become actors, cameramen, sound, light, and anything else that might be needed on a film set. Trupti (Manjiri Pupala) is the outsider heroine.
In Reema Kagti and Varun Grover’s hands, Malegaon turns into a microcosm of the film industry, with all its joys and perils. The thrill of creativity clashes with the business of filmmaking, creating a rift between Nasir and Farogh, which eventually seeps into the rest of the gang. They try to pursue separate careers in film, only to learn that no one understands Malegaon like they do themselves, and no one understands them they like they do each other. These men, whose hopes were crushed by the business of making movies, get back together to create the hero of their friend’s dreams – the Superman of Malegaon.
The characters are both consumers and creators, so as they live through highs and lows of making movies, we see glimpses of how deeply connected their lives have become to the cinema they consume. Whenever the gang’s circumstances compel you to ask, “Why even bother making movies?”, the film points to a young woman emulating iconic heroines for self-worth, or a man coping with heartbreak through Bruce Lee, and says, “Look! This is why.”
The narrative sometimes treats the characters more like allegories than actual people, but the actors easily overcome this by making their performances feel so rooted in honesty. They’ve put in the work here, and it shows. In an impeccable ensemble, Vineet Kumar Singh and Adarsh Gourav are particularly extraordinary as they both manage to find their own spin on passionate, sometimes egoistic men, keeping them likeable yet flawed.
It’s really tempting to say ‘Superboys of Malegaon’ is a film about films. But I don’t think it is. To me it’s about community and brotherhood, about feeling seen and heard. Some of us just happen to find that through the magic of movies.
‘Superboys of Malegaon’ is screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2024, as a part of the Gala Presentations, and is scheduled for a theatrical release in January 2025.
