'Superboys of Malegoan' review: Story celebrates spirit of cinema

THE underdog story, based on real events, was screened at international movie festivals before its limited release in cinemas.

The comedy-drama, which will be available globally on the streaming site Amazon Prime in the coming weeks, revolves around a wedding videographer and photographer who decides to make his own no-budget versions of classic Bollywood movies. The ambitious young man, from an impoverished background, assembles a ragtag bunch of dreamers to bring his visions to life. It isn’t long before they start having creative differences, including over the originality of what they are creating.

There are some unexpected challenges and dramas, which make the unlikely band of filmmakers learn some important life lessons. The craft of filmmaking has been a popular subject matter, but few films have explored it in quite the same way as this surprisingly good effort. It would have been easy for those involved to turn the lead protagonists into silly caricatures, but thankfully that doesn’t happen. What remains is an interesting human drama that beautifully brings together multiple themes, including hope, creativity, entrepreneurship, friendship, and even love.

Although it is filled with entertaining, laughter-filled moments, there is also emotion and drama injected into the story. The talented cast collectively delivers fine performances that add realism and believability, something that commercial Hindi cinema has struggled with in recent years.

The film is slow in places, and perhaps too much is crammed into the ending to tie up loose ends. Additionally, some key elements from the original story are missing, such as local communal tensions. While the missing elements and a stronger director could have significantly elevated Superboys of Malegaon, it doesn’t take away from this being a genuinely different type of story. It would most strongly connect with film fans and those with big dreams. The fact that it is based on real-life events makes it extra special.