Superboys of Malegaon

by Mike McGranaghan

Movies about making movies are certainly nothing new. Superboys of Malegaon comes at it from a fresh angle, telling the true story – or at least a version of it – of Nasir Shaikh, an amateur filmmaker who defied the odds in India’s cinematic scene. The idea of being an outsider bucking the system through sheer willpower is presented with an energy that sweeps you right up.

Nasir (Adarsh Gourav) and his father run a video parlor in the small town of Malegaon. When their business starts to suffer due to competition and a piracy charge, he decides to make his own movie. Friends like the ever-loyal Shafique (Shashank Arora) are recruited to assist, acting as both cast and crew. It isn’t an easy task because Mumbai is where the action is. Nothing in Malegaon is equipped for mounting a film production. Nasir succeeds, and the picture is a hit, leading to several more. Accompanying this triumph is a series of struggles, not the least of which is that he gets all the glory while the contributions of his pals are ignored.

India of course has a thriving film industry. Superboys of Malegaon is a culturally specific tale of that country’s version of someone like Kevin Smith or Robert Rodriguez. Seeing how Nasir puts together his ragtag movies provides great fun and an abundance of humor. Nobody really knows what they’re doing, so everything is comedic trial and error. It’s especially funny because they have to come up with home-grown methods of achieving cinematic techniques. In place of a dolly, for example, they strap a camera to the front of a bicycle for tracking shots.

The heart of the story is its theme of people finding a way to grasp dreams that are technically beyond their reach. Malegaon is not set up for what Nasir wants to accomplish. The necessary infrastructure simply doesn’t exist. For that reason, the character builds it for himself, finding workarounds to deal with what he doesn’t have natural access to. Individuals in small towns all over the world have big dreams that seem like million-to-one shots. But then you win American Idol, or self-publish Fifty Shades of Grey, or cobble together Clerks and the game changes. Nasir and friends are the kind of underdogs you instinctively cheer for.

The actual events portrayed are packaged to hit the familiar emotional beats of an inspirational journey, so in spots the plot feels a bit manipulated. This is mostly true during the third act, which strives to achieve a tear-jerking quality. With winning performances and energetic direction from Reema Kagti, Superboys of Malegaon is still a joyful, entertaining film that’s bound to appeal to cinephiles of all stripes.

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