Superboys of Malegaon movie review: Reema Kagti's film is hugely entertaining

Superboys of MalegaonUA BiographyDir Reema KagtiCast Adarsh Gourav Viineet Kumar Siingh Shashank AroraRating 45Superboys of Malegaon is a hugely entertaining film about films Which also obviously translates to fine direction writing performances and everything else that followsBut thatrsquos not why this movie is so significant It is set over three timelines namely 1997 2004 2010 That makes it more contemporary than lsquoperiodrsquo as it wereAnd yet given the same timelines itrsquos hard to find a chosen subject hence film that perhaps even unwittingly capturescatches the exact cusp of history of the screen so to sayVenture to the right of that timesetting ie the world past 2010Yoursquoll be right inside a mediascape as we are now with almost as many producers as there are consumers of homegrown contentmdashthrough smartphones and their handles on usergenerated platformssocialmedia with a direct audience anywhere between 100 to millions Switch to its left as we are in this film and had been since the Lumiere Bros invented cinemamdashyoursquore surrounded by artistes and wannabes struggling to film their stories Because technology is inaccessible and expensiveFilms are a heavily gated community And thatrsquos what some men more like superboys attempted to break without paisa and with passion alonemdashusing cycle for trolley shot cart for crane parodies for scripts weddingvideo for camerahellipThus creating a nano movieindustry of their ownmdashsome six hours off Mumbai that is its entrepreneurialinfrastructural capital after allThese men as per the title were from Malegaon Which as the moviersquos opening slate states is a ldquosmall town of Indiardquo As against a gaon or village Who are these men thoughTBH not very different from blokes in Bombay I gladly report on for a livingmdashfunloving folks with immense hustle inside them to dabble in such an exasperatingexacting medium where the best of arts science and commerce converge all of them being equally importantOnly budget in their pockets may differ The sense of wonder is the sameThis is how you can instantly tell director Reema Kagti writer Varun Grover manage to lens Swapnil S Sonawane with such seamless unpretentious warmth empathy and energymdashthe true story of cinematographerdirector Nasir Adarsh Gourav writer Farogh Vineet Singh aspiring actor Shafique Shashank Arora and othersScript flows with rhythmic ease As do the dialogues Actors get their characters perhaps better than any theyrsquove played so far The chroniclers in a meta sense are somewhat the subject themselvesThis is rare And quite different from say Boogie Nights 1997 in Hollywood or Miss Lovely 2012 from Mumbaimdashthat seemed more the outsiderrsquos gaze on a lowbudget movie industryOr for that matter this filmrsquos producer Zoya Akhtarrsquos directorial debut Luck By Chance 2009 that was more about showbiz and stardom Rather than something as simple as just wanting to make frickinrsquo moviesmdashwhether or not for a fulltime professionThe most immediate reference point for Superboys of Malegaon is obviously Faiza Ahmad Khanrsquos documentary on the same subject Supermen of Malegaon 2012 that was firstly on the making of a film ie Superman of MalegaonAlthough watched it long ago Irsquove vague but fondest memories of that movie Some of it also sort of to do with the context the doc provided to the town of Malegaon itselfmdashrunning on a powerloom industry riven by religion with a river dividing two communitiesMalegaon is a Muslimmajority small town Such aspects can at best slip in as a subtext in this fictionfeatureMy favourite moment I recall from Faizarsquos film was the shot of Superman as in actor Shafique jutting out of a pole from the back of a truck to suggest hersquos flying It plays out as hilariously in this filmThis might well have you ask Why make a feature when a doc you canrsquot top already exists around the same characters equally humanised already Well you can see why Not that I should need to explainJust observe the beautifully running theme on unrequited love in this film that nonfiction probably canrsquot achieve Or aspects of selfishness of the directorlead or the natural jealousy of his peers So much better to show than tell Just more visceral Think I first read about Malegaonrsquos film industry in writer Manu Josephrsquos fab feature titled Parallel Cinema in Outlook magazine ages ago Mustrsquove come across other references even clips of lsquoMollywoodrsquo superhit the sendup of Sholay as wellAnd thatrsquos what I compared Ram Gopal Varmarsquos Sholay 1975 remake Aag 2007 to in its review then A leading film industry figure was most offended by that analogy for an exaggerated putdownThink she might change her opinion witnessing the courage in this picture with which the superboys of Malegaon put together that parody She might now read it as a complimentIrsquove seen Superboys of Malegaon twice alreadymdashonce on the big screen second time on my laptop The distinction between OTT and theatres in that sense is inherently overrated once you have timemoney to spareA good film is a good film Period This would work just as well in Nasirrsquos Prince Video Parlour in this movie or Malegaonrsquos Darshan Talkies nearbyIt should inspire generations Because if blokes in the rsquo90s could do what they did Anybody can Indeed everybody does in their own ways anywaymdashon YouTube TikTok InstagramhellipYUCK WHATEVER GOOD SUPER AWESOME

Superboys of Malegaon movie review: Reema Kagti's film is hugely entertaining

Superboys of Malegaon
U/A: Biography
Dir: Reema Kagti
Cast: Adarsh Gourav, Viineet Kumar Siingh, Shashank Arora
Rating: 4/5

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / Superboys of Malegaon movie review: Reema Kagti's film is hugely entertaining

Superboys of Malegaon movie review: Reema Kagti's film is hugely entertaining

Superboys of MalegaonU/A: BiographyDir: Reema KagtiCast: Adarsh Gourav, Viineet Kumar Siingh, Shashank AroraRating: 4/5

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Superboys of Malegaon
U/A: Biography
Dir: Reema Kagti
Cast: Adarsh Gourav, Viineet Kumar Siingh, Shashank Arora
Rating: 4/5