The Magic of Malegaon

What happens when a film based on a series of films, becomes the subject of another film? Magic, if it is in the right hands. Reema Kagti, one half of Tiger Baby Films, has directed Superboys of Malegaon, based on Faiza Ahmad Khan’s 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon. This documentary was based on the cinematic exploits of Shaikh Nasir, a movie-mad unemployed young man with a camera and ambition. The documentary filmmaker started with the idea of five hours of footage which expanded to 285 hours. As the editor Shweta Venkat wrote in her Instagram post recently, she and Faiza edited the footage in her apartment, working through a deadline of three months, putting their lives on hold. That was 16 years ago, and now Kagti has recreated Nasir’s world in a movie that celebrates India’s obsession with films. Superboys of Malegaon impressed senior programme adviser, South Asia, TIFF, Meenakshi Shedde, and has found its way to the Toronto International Film Festival. Shedde says: “It is a fictionalised version that celebrates a diehard love for cinema, small-town creativity and friendship.” The Prime Video film stars Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, and Shashank Arora. The industry has not been particularly kind to documentaries in the past, playing fast and loose with credit. As one Facebook post said, Nishtha Jain’s Gulabi Gang and Kabir Singh Chowdhry’s Mehsampur (the inspiration for Soumik Sen’s Gulaab Gang and Imtiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila) were not given proper credit. Jain’s comment on the post called Gulaab Gang cannibalistic. She wrote: “I have to correct people about the title of my documentary. People call it the Gulaab Gang. When the fictional version of Supermen of Malegaon hits the screens, the audiences, and journos will forget it’s based on a terrific documentary even if it says so on the credits.” Kagti and her Tiger Baby partner Zoya Akhtar are usually more careful about intellectual copyright so perhaps Supermen of Malegaon will meet a better fate.

Shoojit’s Slice of Life

A slice of life and a Bachchan is usually enough for a Shoojit Sircar film to work. Piku (2015) was the perfect example of it. His new film has the other Bachchan, Abhishek. It’s about the bond between a young girl and her father, played by Abhishek, which is tested by a medical diagnosis. It features Banita Sandhu, who had a tiny role as Lady Sita Malhotra in Bridgerton Season 3—which she was criticised for but which she would have been silly to pass up considering its viewership. Sandhu was the star of Sircar’s October (2018) and had a small role in Sardar Udham (2021). Directors and actors often develop good working relationships and often want to continue to collaborate. Sircar had developed a similar relationship with Irrfan Khan (who worked with him in Piku) and had planned the Udham Singh movie with him until his cancer intervened. Sircar’s fondness for Bachchan Senior is also well known. He wrote the screenplay for Pink (2016), where Bachchan played a lawyer, the unreleased Shoebite in 2019, where he played an ageing man on a path of self-discovery, and the well received Gulabo Sitabo (2020) where he played the role of a cranky old man.

The Tripti Trap

The trailer of Bad Newz has won a lot of attention on social media for Tripti Dimri’s uninhibited display of sensuality. After Animal, where she had an extended appearance as Ranbir Kapoor character’s mistress, Dimri has clearly decided that smaller, steamier roles have more impact in a sex-starved nation. The irony is that Dimri had delivered three scintillating performances in Laila Majnu, Bulbbul and Qala (the latter two for Netflix) but got great feedback only from critics. It took her a small role in a big film, which is basically playing by the industry’s time-tested rules, to make a big impact. It is the same with another talented newcomer, Radhikka Madan, who delivered delicious performances in several wacky movies such as Pataakha (2018) and Kuttey (2023). At 29, she is now cast opposite 56-year-old Akshay Kumar in Sarfira, a remake of Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru (2020), continuing the tradition of older men being cast opposite ever younger women. The room for negotiation for young women, especially if they’re from outside the Bollywood dynastic bubble, is limited. Often excellent performance in streaming shows and independent movies doesn’t translate into steady work. If the work is steady, it is usually in the same genre, which is not the most exciting for any actor.

About The Author

Kaveree Bamzai

Kaveree Bamzai is an author and a contributing writer with Open

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