Mumbai is the home of Bollywood, as well as its inspiration that can be found in the dusty streets of Malegaon where Hindi cinema finds its grandest canvas. In 2008, Faiza Ahmed Khan produced the documentary Supermen of Malegaon, capturing Mumbai’s unique spirit by following rookie director Nasir Sheikh and his friends setting out to make their Superman spoof. Their passion for cinema gave them, and the place they were raised in, a new lease of life.
Sixteen years later, director Reema Kagti has taken the inspirational story of Nasir and his band of fledgling filmmakers and turned it into a theatrical film, titled Superboys of Malegaon.
White Tiger actor Adarsh Gourav plays Nasir, the wedding videographer and owner of a video parlour, who loves movies and is a die-hard fan of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. “Malegaon remains a city frozen in time. Even though there have been modern changes, culturally it is still trapped in the Bollywood of the ‘90s. There is a lot of originality in this place; every person is so individualistic unlike the homogeneity one sees in metro cities.”
Preparing for the film, Adarsh made it a point to spend time with Nasir, now 48, and his friends, who has gone their different ways. “Though he isn’t making movies anymore, Nasir was game when I asked him for help. What struck me was his conviction and clarity of vision.
After all, he was the man who started the film movement in Malegaon in the 90s. He is incredibly charming and passionate about what he does. He is a great leader, and I wanted to capture the essence of his personality,” says Adarsh.
Superboys of Malegaon won rave reviews for its evocative realism at its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival as well as at its screening at the British Film Festival.
It is expected to hit the theatres in January next year. “This is a film for anyone who has had a dream or vision to do something of their own, and strikes a chord for its simplicity,” says Adarsh, who credits the film’s success in the festival circuit to Kagti’s clarity of thought, as well as the many workshops she insisted her team be part off. “Workshops are a must since they help you add layers to your character.”
Adarsh appeared on screen for the first time as the young Shah Rukh Khan in My Name is Khan (2010), but his breakthrough role only came a decade later with White Tiger (2021), an adaptation of Arvind Adiga’s Booker-winning novel of the same name. Adarsh played the complex Balram Tyagi, a small-town boy who morphs into a ruthless gangster. The performance won him international recognition, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
White Tiger was followed by Guns & Gulaabs, and Kho Gaye Hum Kahan; both critical acclaimed. “I have a hustler gene in me. I am glad it paid off. I am now being seen as an actor who can play different parts. That’s the kind of perception I wanted to build for myself.”
His experiments with Hollywood appear to be in line with that goal. He starred in the American anthology Extrapolations last year, and has just wrapped up the sci-fi series Alien: Earth.
The prequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), it will premiere in 2025. Playing one of the key characters, Adarsh confesses that the series’ futuristic premise and genre excited him. “To be part of a psychological thriller and sci-fi horror, are elements which I am drawn towards as an actor.” Malegaon knows.
“I am now being seen as an actor who can play different parts. That’s the kind of perception I wanted to build for myself.”
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