Hymns to the magic of filmmaking tend to be more entrancing when there is some ineptitude involved: seeing enthusiastic amateurs struggling with their inexperience puts viewers and creators on the same level, telling us that at heart we are all just fans.
That’s why Indian comedy Superboys of Malegaon is so engaging. Based on a true story, previously the subject of 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon, it is set in a city in western India where young movie enthusiast Nasir (Adarsh Gourav) runs a video parlour, showing films on VHS. The business is failing because its programme of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton doesn’t attract audiences. Then Nasir gets the idea of splicing together Hollywood silents and Asian martial arts movies, Chaplin’s comedy boxing switching to Bruce Lee’s fists of fury in one snappy edit.
He graduates to making his own films, roping in his friends to shoot made-in-Malegaon parodies of Bollywood hits like 1975 epic Sholay. Nasir’s very cheap, very cheerful productions prove successful, but his hubris soon breaks up the gang. We are left wondering whether Nasir’s faithful sidekick, magnificently mulleted Shafique (Shashank Arora), will ever get his longed-for moment in front of the camera, or whether idealistic writer Farogh (Vineet Singh) will make his social-realist drama or finally embrace the joys of the crowd pleaser?
Romantic subplots apart, this is very much a story about men’s friendship and flaws. Quick-firing and jubilantly good-humoured — but with some pronounced heart-tugging — Reema Kagti’s film, scripted by Varun Grover, is also clever in showing Nasir getting to grips with changing technologies over several years, from basic video editing to DIY greenscreen. The dreams-come-true narrative is nicely played against the realist evocation of everyday life in Malegaon, and a genial ensemble cast is headed by Gourav, who personably traces Nasir’s progress as a gradually maturing hothead.
★★★★☆
In UK cinemas from February 28