“Bombay nahin jaa sakte, Bombay ko idhar le aate,” says our Malegaon ka movie moghul in this startling meditation on parodic filmmaking.
This is 1997, when Mumbai was Bombay, and dreams died first. Reema Kagti takes us right into the heart of a world of self-styled filmmakers in the small dusty town of Malegao in Maharashtra, which acquired something akin to fame when a bunch of local boys decided to make their own Sholay and fake their own grand illusions.
Straight off, a standing ovation with a slow-clap for the four actors who play the Malegoan moviegoers. Adarsh Gourav is the director Nasir who won’t stop dreaming even when the lights have been switched off. Shashank Arora is the aspiring actor so blindly devoted to Nasir’s dream he won’t let his devotion dither for a second. Anuj Singh Duhan is Akram, the team’s cinematographer. Then there is Vineet Kumar Singh as Farogh, the “original” writer of this copycat team; watch him towards the end when he tells Nasir why these sasti copycats are special.
Let me not forget Manjri Pupula, the team’s resident heroine, Trupti. She is a discovery.
Each of the actors imbues an intimacy and lived-in warmth to the characters. Director Reema Kagti and her co-writer Varun Grover score resoundingly in meshing the extraordinary dreams of ordinary people into their personal dynamics.
The wonder-work conveys an exceptionally anomalous synthesis of tacky cinematic aspirations and exceptional filmmaking. It is like Dilip Kumar playing a bad actor. Reema Kagti allots a huge and admirable volume of respect and affection to these self-appointed mediocre but majestic movie makers of Malegaon. In a way, she has constructed a Taj Mahal to house lowbrow dreams.
Kagti never for a split second judges the characters and their limited cinematic skills. Instead, she celebrates them. While portions of the tightly edited (Anand Subaya) narration where the team directs tawdry duplicates of Sholay, Shaan, etc are enormously edifying, it is the interpersonal relationships that empower the narrative: Nasir’s broken heart and his patient supportive wife willing to wait for the mend , Shafique’s heartbreaking affection for Trupti could have been an independent film—there is so much emotional heft in that relationship—and the team’s sense of betrayal as Nasir snatches the limelight.
Reema Kagti gently enters this world of stirring subterfuge, nurturing the characters and their dreams as her own.
Any quibbles? Well, if we must find fault, then I thought Sachin-Jigar’s background score too polished. I think these people didn’t need an emotional prop. The film would work a lot better without the background score.
That said, Superboys Of Malegaon is an exceptionally scripted and performed piece of art. At one point, Farogh observes, “Writer baap hota hai.” The proof of the plotting lies in its taste. This film proves it.
