Reema Kagti has quietly produced and directed some really great projects across film and Television in the last decade or so. She hasn’t necessarily found the respect or appreciation that she deserves for it, and unfortunately is still an underrated filmmaker in the Industry. Most people would probably know her only as Zoya Akhtar’s partner. When in fact they make all movies together irrespective of which one of them is directing. She is coming to TIFF with her fourth directorial feature Superboys of Malegaon, which premiered under Gala presentations.
The interesting thing about this project is that neither Reema nor Zoya worked on the script for this one. Varun Grover was on scripting duties for this one. Reema and Zoya both produced it under their Tiger Baby banner but this is probably the first time either of them is helming a project that they did not co-write themselves. This to me shows that they had complete faith in Grover’s work, who is generally known for his prowess as a lyricist and comedian rather than screenwriting.
The story is inspired by the 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon, which tells the true story of Nasir Shaikh and his journey as an amateur filmmaker in the city of Malegaon. Kagti gathered a strong cast that includes Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, and Shashank Arora among others. Expectations were naturally high for this one given the strong cast and crew and the TIFF premiere.
There are a lot of movies about friendship, but there aren’t many about filmmaking itself. Superboys of Malegaon combines the two in a way I’ve never seen before. The best part about this movie is its cast and the chemistry between them. Our core group of 5 friends is established nice and early and you really get to feel the bond between them. One of the main things that bond them is their love for cinema and stories. Nasir starts his filmmaking journey through piracy, but obviously, he isn’t able to get far using illegal methods. He finally decides to shoot his own movies and gets his buddies on board.
What follows is a heartwarming and emotional journey that takes Nasir and his friends through ups and downs in their quest for filmmaking. The narrative does feel formulaic and predictable at times, especially in the second act and it feels like Varun couldn’t resist the temptation of using familiar biopic tropes. But this doesn’t distract at all and it’s also important to note that the makers wanted to be faithful to the actual story as much as possible, so that makes it easy to forgive all the familiar trope usage.
A couple of the subplots are not handled well and feel rushed, and some of the supporting characters could’ve also used a little more depth and screen time. But on the other hand, I also feel that the runtime here is perfect and any more would’ve felt unnecessary. Reema Kagti’s has always impressed me as a director and she does it here yet again. Her sensibility of the small town landscape is spot on and the locations were brilliantly used. Another major highlight was Sachin-Jigar’s score. It was one of the best things about this movie and perfectly complemented what was going in the scenes.
The humor is also very consistent and never gets in the way of the overall message that this story is trying to deliver. At face value, it might just seem like a light-hearted comedy that would make for an easy watch. On the contrary, it has a strong message, it is deeply affecting and moving at times, and it has actual stakes for our characters to deal with. Thankfully Reema had a talented cast, who all get their moments to shine. No one, in particular, stood out in my opinion, and just worked really well as a unit. But that said, I worry that moviegoers, especially Indian audiences will be too stubborn to show up to the cinemas for this one.
Superboys of Malegaon finds the perfect combination of a dramatic biopic and a hilarious underdog story. It works on almost every level thanks to Kagti’s sound direction, Grover’s crisp script and a charming ensemble. Sachin-Jigar’s score also rules and it fully deserves the faith that Amazon MGM has showed in it by putting it in cinemas and not just dumping it on streaming. It also pays homage to filmmakers and celebrates the cinematic experience. This one is a genuine crowdpleaser and makes for a satisfying watch.
Superboys of Malegaon premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2024 and will release in cinemas in January 2025.
