This is a film based on real people and real events. The year is 1997. Twenty-something-year-old Nasir Shaik (Adarsh Gourav) runs a makeshift cinema with his older brother Nihal (Gyanendra Tripathi) in the small Indian city of Malegaon. He’s a fan of Buster Keaton and Bruce Lee, two regular appearances on his tiny silver screen. Basically, the structure consists of more than a VHS projector attached to a crumbling VCR, a white sheet, a few flimsy chairs and some enthusiastic moviegoers. Nasir is a devout Muslim, and some of the traditional films do not entirely adhere to his strict morals. So he begins cutting the movies – literally, with scissors to hand – separating halal from haram. Possessed with a Godardian determination, he suddenly starts blending footage from different films, and creating his very artesinal montages. These creations prove very popular with audiences, but not so much with the police. Editing becomes subversive, or even criminalised. The business is suddenly shut, presumably due to copyright infringement.
Nasir’s cinematic mind, however, remains fully functional. He shuns exhibition in favour of production. He is joined by Nihal as well as a loyal gang of film enthusiasts. They include aspiring scriptwriter Farogh (Vineet Singh) and actor Shafique (Shashank Arora). They embark on a mission to recreate action-adventure Bollywood classic Sholay (Ramesh Sippy, 1975), itself a kaleidoscopic mash-up of filmic references (Spaghetti Western, Dacoit, Samurai, etc), about a retired policeman who hires two criminals in order to capture his nemeses, and entirely spoken in Hindi.
The shooting takes place on location in the mot-so-regal Malegaon. They recruit local actors with little to no professional experience. A candidate demands a daily rate of 2,000 rupees, prompting Nasir to reply: “if I had that kind of money, I’d make the film in Mumbai”. The city from which Bollywood borrows its name, and where most of the industry sits to this date, is just a few hundred miles away, yet light years apart. The final product is deliciously scrappy and spontaneous. The movie is a hit, prompting the production of yet another remake: the similarly-themed Shaan (Ramesh Sippy, 1980).
This is a movie infused with Bollywood music, swagger and sensibility, and with an arthouse twirl thrown in for extra flavour. Jaunty tunes and slapstick action are combined with subtle social commentary and high production values. The music is pervasive yet never invasive. The music numbers are sparse: the cast and crew erupt into dance when the shooting is over. Otherwise, Superboys of Malegaon not possess the boisterous musicality of Bollywood classics.
For Nasir and his associates, cinema is a dream, a whim and also redemption. This charming tribute to filmmaking – namely the burning desire to make films with very few resources to hand – is not a low-budget endeavour. Ironically, The Superboys of Magaleon lacks precisely the freshness and spontaneity it sets out to celebrate. This is a carefully scripted and schematically executed film. It may please Indian and Western audiences alike. The script is largely based on Faiza Ahmad Khan’s 2008 documentary The Supermen of Malegaon. A loving ode to the heroes of the grassroots. Cinema in its most unconstrained, impetuous and democratic format. Fascinatingly uncouth.
The topic of arranged marriage is a central one. Nasir marries Shabeena, despite his true feelings for a woman called Malika. Marrying the loved one is a privilege for the few, we learn. So the newly man wed asks his spouse: “can we be friends first?”. She replies: “yes, just let me finish my law degree”. Women finally dare to have career ambitions. And the old-fashioned matrimonial arrangements morphs into a profound affection, complicity and even friendship. Despite the challenges, Nasir and Shabeena remain together come rain or come shine.
The final third of the film takes place 13 years later. A horrible illness strikes one of the gang members, and the costs of the treatment are prohibitive. The makeshift artists get together one more time with a super incredible solution, one that justifies the film title. The creative dreamers have to grapple with a doubly unfortunate fate. The poor artists chose a rich man’s trade (filmmaking is a very expensive passion), and now they must contend with a rich man’s disease. Could their commitment to the seventh art enable them to overcome both barriers?
At 128 minutes, The Superboys of Magaleon occasionally blunders, with the story becoming a little repetitive. An extraordinarily beautiful final scene makes up for the small shortcomings. Audiences become the spectacle, in a technique resembling tableaux vivants and borrowing from Victor Erice’s Close Your Eyes (2023). Worth a viewing. An attentive viewing even.
Superboys of Malegaon premiered in the Main Competition of the 4th Red Sea International Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. In cinemas on Friday, February 28th.
