Directed by Reema Kagti, Superboys of Malegaon is, according to Subhash K Jha, ‘an exceptionally scripted and performed piece of art’. The film, which stars Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, and Shashank Arora, is a love letter to movies.
Superboys of Malegaon is a poignant tale of filmmaking and friendship. The movie within a movie takes inspiration from the real-life story of Nasir Sheikh, an amateur filmmaker from the small town of Malegaon. The town’s residents look to Bollywood for a much-needed escape, and Nasir wants to make Bollywood-inspired films for the people of Malegaon, by the people of Malegaon.
Adarsh Gourav, plays the lead role of Nasir Sheik, and in this fabulous interview, he talks with Subhash K Jha about all things Superboys of Malegaon.
What was your initial reaction when you heard about the people of Malegaon who made parody versions of hit films?
When I first heard about Malegaon, I was completely blown away. I was left dumbstruck in awe of all these people who were doing it, not necessarily for the money but just because they were driven by pure passion to create something without thinking of the consequences and just out of pure love and passion for cinema. I was very inspired in wonder and in complete awe.
Did the director Reema Kagti allow you room to interpret your character of Nasir Sheikh?
Reema gave me a lot of freedom to interpret my character. She gave me all the freedom in the world to do my research, to go to Malegaon, spend time there, spend time with Nasir, and learn Urdu as well. And you know, there are lots of things that you do when you’re trying to sort of crack a character which you probably wouldn’t necessarily use in the film. But those things just come in handy anyway in life. So I’m just so glad. And she’s also such a wonderful, phenomenal director, so sure of what she wants.
How was your camaraderie with your costars Vineet Kumar, Shashank Arora, etc?
My camaraderie with all my co-stars was amazing. You know, I was telling Shashank the other day that when I was growing up a few years ago, when I was in my late teens, early 20s, I would watch films of Shashank and Vikrant Massey in particular, their performances, and I’d be like, you know, this is the kind of work because they’re also closer to my age. I’m, of course, inspired by a lot of other people, but because they’re closer to my age, I would look at their performances and the kind of films that they would pick and be like, yeah, this is what I can relate to. These are the kind of films and the kind of choices I wanted to make when it was time for me. Even Vineet Bhai, for example, in Mukkebaaz. And I’m just so honoured that I got to work with Shashank, with Vineet, with all the other phenomenally talented cast members, Anuj Singh Duhan, Saqib Ayub, Pallav Singh, Manjiri Pupala, Muskan Jafferi, Riddhi Kumar, Abhinav Grover, who’s my senior from drama school. You know, all these people, it was, it was really something else to shoot for this film and to spend so much time together in Nasik.
The location looks absolutely authentic
I think what was really special is that we took this small part in Nasik like a small corner, a small locality and built the actual video parlour as it used to look in the 90s. Built the restaurant that Nasik and his family used to run. And that immensely helped because, you know, I think when you’re, when you do it in a studio or on a set versus when you actually build the structure at a real location, it makes a world of difference. I think that was extremely, extremely helpful for all the actors. It was also super hectic for me because I was almost shooting every single day. So there wasn’t much free time for me to explore the city as such. So it was mostly just shoots, and on the off day or on the turnaround day, I was just like sleeping, resting up, and stuff. And once we were there, we were there, right? Like we were there for two and a half months from start to end. It was really cold. We were shooting in the winters. So it was really, really cold.
What’s next from you?
Well, the other project that I’m working on right now is a Telugu film. It’s tentatively called Happy Birthday. It’s being shot in March. I’m super excited for it. It’s a time travel psychological thriller. And there’s Aliens that’s coming out in July or August of this year. So yeah, I’m very, very excited to be part of all these projects. And yeah, I hope they do well.
