Into a world of fantasy

The one hour film titled Malegaon ka Superman directed by Faiza Ahmad Khan, was shown to the audience in Hindi and Urdu with English subtitles.The short film is about the making of another film in Malegaon, a small town in Maharashtra.

This town is fraught with communal tension and this makes its people want to escape the harsh reality and they seek refuge in the fantasy world of cinema.

This passion for cinema spurs a group of cinema enthusiasts to make their own films – quirky, low budget and notoriously funny spoofs of Bollywood films.

With their ever-growing ambition, they think of making spoof of Hollywood films and first on their list is Superman.

The storyline is at times funny, tragic and contemplative, but always engaging. And as the film begins to take shape, through their antiques and approaches that are sometimes ingenious and sometimes purely hysterical and bizarre, the characters show us a slice of the town called Malegaon.

 The vcast of the film includes Shakeel Bharati, Farogh Jafri, Akram Khan, Nazir Shaikh among others. The director is also careful to point out that these films, and movies in general, are important part of the people’s daily lives in this industrial town.
The movie was sublimely enriching with the apt dialogues, characterisation and screenplay.

The screening saw huge participation from the people in the City. Says Avani Joshi, a professional, “This movie is very blatant in its opinion that people, who live here, are diehard lovers of movies. The narrative possesses a certain charm and openness that keeps you engrossed in the film throughout.”

Even Atul Singh, a student, was all praise for the movie. “It is one of the most
amazing and entertaining documentaries I’ve ever seen till date. The language was crisp and suited the storyline. Even the characters were portrayed to perfection and brought out the message in a powerful manner. This is a no-nonsense movie and in my opinion it serves as an ideal example for others to learn about movie-making,” he says.

Says Ashok S K, an aspiring film-maker, “The movie chronicles the hero’s hilarious attempts to overcome myriad unseen challenges, whether it is the dropping of his camera in the water or the lead actor getting married. This film will remind even the most cynical movie-goers of the sheer joy and excitement, and also of the various hurdles inherent in film-making.”