The comedy-drama Superboys of Malegaon is an assured crowd pleaser that uses cliche and audience expectation to its advantage, not to its detriment. Based on a true story (that was originally told in the 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon), this ode to friendship and DIY filmmaking follows a familiar path out of the gate before gradually morphing into a more thoughtfully layered, character driven movie. Superboys of Malegaon starts out fine for what it is, but as time goes by for the characters, director Reema Kagti’s film becomes something richer (even if it also gets a tad more obvious and melodramatic).
The story kicks off in 1997 in the titular small Indian town, where budding cinephile Nasir (Adarsh Gourav) is toiling away at his family’s flailing video parlour; screening old Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies while the proper movie theatre across the street is packing the house everyday with the latest blockbusters. Nasir learns how to edit using VCRs and comes up with a concept of mashing up classic and contemporary movies that feature only action packed high spots, cutting from Keaton and Chaplin to Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee in a “seamless” manner. When he gets busted for piracy by the police, Nasir brings together several of his friends to make a movie of his own. Why grind it out for years in Mumbai without getting anywhere when you can show some hometown pride? His plan: to make a parody/remake of the iconic Indian blockbuster Sholay.
The first hour or so of Superboys of Malegaon revolves around the crafting of Nasir’s shoestring production, and it’s a solidly inspirational story about the triumph of the human spirit and plucky ingenuity. Everyone on the shoot works multiple jobs, their dolly is a camcorder strapped to a bicycle, the novice actors all have understandable jitters, and there’s even a chance for Nasir to add a bit of product placement to his movie to help offset the costs. It’s all in good fun, especially for fans of turn-of-the-century, pre-cell phone technology and mainstream Indian cinema around the same period. But again, stories at this level about the hard road faced by indie filmmakers – especially comedies and those taking inspiration from true stories – are plentiful, and although the film is on point, none of the early going is surprising.
It’s an adequate story of big dreamers putting on a show and having the community embrace what they’ve produced. Superboys of Malegaon isn’t terribly inspired at the start, but Kagti (Gold) and screenwriter Varun Grover carry it off well, and on a visual level they make Malegaon look like a rather nice place to live instead of a backwoods hamlet, which is a nice change of pace from genre expectation. It’s exactly the kind of place one would expect such hearty ingenuity to thrive. There’s a vibrancy to the community and the people within it that makes it a place one would want to represent and share with the world.
In spite of the obvious jokes about the perils of DIY filmmaking and a few underdeveloped romantic subplots that don’t add much except some diversity to an otherwise resolutely male story, Superboys of Malegaon works in the early going because it does a good job of explaining what makes the ragtag crew’s film so important, something that’s only enforced as the film goes on. Audiences love to see themselves reflected on screen, but major producers are always afraid of homespun stories they see as lacking in the broadest appeal. Nasir and his friends prove that regional cinema can be a source of great pride, empowerment, and entertainment value, making their shaky Sholay reboot a resounding success.
And that’s where things get genuinely interesting and things become more uniquely balanced. As soon as the idea of a follow-up to their unlikely hit is floated, things get complicated, and fractures in the tight knit group start to form. Success goes immediately to Nasir’s head, and he thinks that the best course of action would be to keep churning out the parodies, because that’s what he thinks the people of Malegaon want. This causes the original film’s screenwriter, Farogh (Vineet Singh), who wants to make more serious and original fare based on real people, to storm off in a huff, preferring to take his chances elsewhere. A couple of time jumps – to 2004 and 2010 – show how all of the crew members’ lives change, mostly for the worse, and how they’re able to come back together for a last hurrah to give a friend in need some much needed hope.
Reverie gives way to melancholy in the latter stages of Superboys of Malegaon, but the characters become a lot richer and more engaging as a result. It’s a much different struggle than the ones they faced at the outset. By this point, the viewer has seen their successes, failures, and where their lives have ultimately led. There’s more investment than merely wanting to see these budding filmmakers make another movie. Kagti makes sure that the audience also wants to see them happy, healthy, loved, and accepted. In that respect, Superboys of Malegaon is a bit of a trojan horse. It starts expectedly silly before becoming a bit more serious and taking the enormous amount of heart that’s present throughout in a new direction. By the end, one might be taken aback by the emotional impact of it all, with Kagti moving effortlessly into tearjerker territory without overplaying her hand and lapsing into full on melodrama.
Superboys of Malegaon was the closing night premiere at TIFF last year, and it was certainly a solid choice for a slot that’s usually reserved for movies that hold potential for widespread appeal. The movie itself shows how any story can find an audience if it’s made with good intentions, and that’s precisely what Kagti’s work has in abundance. There’s a familiarity to this, but after showing all the things knowledgable viewers might’ve seen in films prior to this, Superboys of Malegaon transforms into something a lot more unique and relatable beyond the world of moviemaking. Just like how a master would use a well worn cliche or plot device, Superboys of Malegaon uses these tropes as a jumping off point to create something much larger.
Superboys of Malegaon opens in select Canadian theatres on Friday, February 28, 2025. It will be available to stream on Prime Video at a later date.
