After a rave reception at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival last year and its theatrical launch in late February, the critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama Superboys of Malegaon has arrived on Prime Video, and leading up to its debut, we sat down with director Reema Kagti, breakout star Shashank Arora, writer Varun Grover, and the film's real-life inspiration Nasir Shaikh.
Speaking with the quartet, Kagti explains what initially inspired her to turn the 2008 documentary into a full-fledged feature film and how this particular story can resonate with audiences of all ages.
Grover and Arora also explain how visiting and talking to the people of Malegaon influenced their approaches, as a writer and actor, respectively, and how they were able to bring a real authenticity to the project - something Shaikh can attest to, as while watching the film, he once again found himself transported to that unique period of his life.
The synopsis reads, "Superboys of Malegaon is a film based on the life of Nasir Shaikh, an amateur filmmaker from the town of Malegaon. The residents of the town look to Bollywood cinema for a much-needed escape from daily drudgery. Nasir gets inspired to make a film for the people of Malegaon, by the people of Malegaon. He bands together his ragtag group of friends to bring his vision to life, thereby bringing a fresh lease of life into the town. The film is a poignant yet uplifting take on both filmmaking and friendship - and what happens when those two worlds collide."
Reema Kagti (Dahaad; Gold; Talaash: The Answer Lies Within) helmed the feature, with a screenplay from Varun Grover (Sandeep Aur Pink Faraar; Masaan; All India Rank), and an exceptional cast consisting of Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger; Extrapolations; Hostel Daze), Vineet Kumar Singh (Mukkabaaz; Gangs of Wasseypur; Betaal), Shashank Arora (Made in Heaven; Titli; Moothon), Anuj Singh Duhan (The Fame Game; Commando; Panchayat), and Riddhi Kumar (Human; Crash Course; Candy).
Superboys of Malegaon is now streaming on Prime Video!
Watch our full video interview with stars director Reema Kagti, the real-life Nasir Shaikh, Shashank Arora (“Shafique Shaikh”), and writer Varun Grover below and/or keep scrolling to read the transcription. Plus, please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Reema, since this is a true story, what challenges does it present when you’re trying to tell the actual story, but, at the same time, also make a good movie without changing too much? Having done Gold, did that help you at all?
REEMA: Well, you know, Varun put it very well - he says that, you know, real life doesn't have any acts, and it doesn't play out like a screenplay. But when you are scripting a real story, you still need to bring in all the dramatic points. It needs to work as a film in itself, and yet you need to do justice to the people that you're making the film about. So, I think that we did take some creative liberties, but by and large, we kind of tried to stay as close to the truth, or at least the spirit of the truth.
ROHAN: Shashank, you are incredible in this movie as Shafique - what sort of prep did you do to get into character? Was it more the documentary or conversations with Nasir and the team?
SHASHANK: So, it starts with the screenplay, you know, and it hints where you should go as an actor, and then, your director gives you a certain set of instructions. And, of course, there was the documentary that was available. There's videos Nasir has shot, and, you know, there were Nasir's friends, who I spoke to, and you get a bit of information on Shafique, so you piece together this human being from different sources, and then, you arrive at a consensus within yourself as to how you want to go about this, and that's how it occurred. It's not one source, as you know, it's many sources.
ROHAN: Nasir, while the movie tells the same story, there are scenes where you aren’t exactly painted in a positive light - what did it mean to you to almost relive some of these moments when you were starting out to bring truth to the story?
VINEET: (translated from Hindi) When this film was made, and when I saw it, I felt like we’d returned to that period of my life, and after people saw the first trailer, we got so many comments that made me feel like that period was still ongoing. I remembered the films I made with my friends, the locations, their acting - it just felt like I went back in time. The dialogue was so well written by Varun and the actors captured the Malegaon dialect so perfectly.
ROHAN: Varun, the documentary obviously did a great job, but when you’re meeting the people of Malegaon firsthand, what perspective did they help bring to your script?
VINEET: So, when I visited Malegaon, of course, I knew Malegaon from the documentary, and it's a fabulous documentary, but when I went to Malegaon, for me, there were lots of new learnings about these people, about all the characters in Malegaon, not just Nasir and his bunch of friends, but how movie obsessed this town is, and why it is and what makes Nasir, or what makes these people in Malegaon to try and create their own film industry. So, for me, that stark difference between reality and the magic they are creating on screen was, I would say, very unsettling also, at one point, but also very fascinating, and that was something we wanted to capture in the film. And, as Reema also said initially, which basically their lives had these great highs and lows, but to put that into a movie script, you need certain themes to stick to, and kind of create a narrative around that. So certain themes which kind of jumped at us, and the most important themes in the film, also one is the power of movies, the power of friendship, but apart from that, this central theme of the film, according to me, is what can be called art, and will only a small bunch of elitist filmmakers or audience will decide what is art and what is not? Or can anyone create their own art for their own universe and then consume it and be, you know, as moved by that as someone, you know, as some film student would be moved by, I don’t know, a Tarkovsky film. So, there is that kind of inquiry into the film, which came from Malegaon , because when you see other reporting on Malegaon, there is always that gaze which is slightly patronizing, that okay, these people are great, but they are creating art for themselves and okay, it is kind of, you know, it is an achievement. But beyond that achievement lie actual humans who are creating art which will survive them, which will outlast them, actually. And that was something we wanted to get to the soul of, and that is why, you know, the climax of the film is supposed to hint at that, exactly that what they are creating is actually way more moving than a lot of I don't know, art house cinema.
Superboys of Malegaon is a film based on the life of Nasir Shaikh, an amateur filmmaker from the town of Malegaon. The residents of the town look to Bollywood cinema for a much-needed escape from daily drudgery. Nasir gets inspired to make a film for the people of Malegaon, by the people of Malegaon. He bands together his ragtag group of friends to bring his vision to life, thereby bringing a fresh lease of life into the town. The film is a poignant yet uplifting take on both filmmaking and friendship - and what happens when those two worlds collide.