Film Review: Superboys of Malegaon

This film based on the true story of a self-taught director based in the Maharashtrian city of Malegaon has been doing the film festival rounds since its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It is now ready to hit UK cinemas this week, before streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Nasir (Gourav) is a small-town boy with big dreams, fuelled by his obsession with cinema – Bollywood and beyond, to include Hollywood greats such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. He enjoys sharing this passion with the working-class audiences of Malegaon through screenings at his family-run ramshackle theatre.

To boost sluggish ticket sales and earn some extra cash to impress his would-be in-laws, Nasir hits upon the perfect scheme to override the slow access to the original prints of the latest popular Bollywood releases in the late 1990s. Armed with a VCR, he begins slicing and dicing scenes from some his favourite international comedies to create a ‘brand-new’ slapstick production that has Malegaon cinemagoers in splits and flocking to his theatre for more.

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However, the booming ticket sales also attract a police raid over piracy charges – shutting down this mickey-mouse operation. But instead of losing heart over the setback, Nasir soon hits upon the ultimate solution – to make his very own film set in Malegaon and starring local ‘talent’. In this daring endeavour, his devoted buddy and wannabe actor Shafique (Arora) is behind him every step of the way and, after some cajoling, so are other members of his gang including writer Farough (Singh).

Nasir sets about training himself with the help of behind-the-scenes shots from Bollywood film sets and an open casting call later, the stage is set for his very first production – a parody of the Bollywood classic ‘Sholay’. While this debut is a resounding hit, it plays out against the backdrop of many personal struggles resulting in an eventual bust-up of the filmmaking crew. Nasir, pining for his lost love and trying to adjust to life with new wife Shabeena (Jaferi), reluctantly hangs his camera in favour of a mundane life as a restaurant manager.

That routine gets shaken up years later when Shafique is diagnosed with cancer. Will Malegaon’s amateur filmmaking gang overcome their ego clashes and misgivings to reunite in crisis or will Malegaon’s cinematic fame prove short-lived?

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This warm, emotional and laugh-out-loud film is a must-watch for all lovers of cinema! The fact that the characters we see unfold on screen are not fictional makes this story even more appealing. Gourav as the resourceful, albeit flawed, director and Arora as the unlikely superhero are backed up ably by each of the talented crew.

‘Superboys of Malegaon’ is a true-to-life nod to the magic of films – in all their uncertain and, ultimately, rewarding hues.