In a World of 'Chhaava', Be a 'Superboys of Malegaon'

'Superboys of Malegaon' shows Muslims must not only be villains or victims in Bollywood. They can just be humans.

'Superboys of Malegaon' introduces the audience to a cheerful and aspiring bunch of Muslim youth in a film that isn’t overtly centred on their religious identity. The characters are real, belonging to the so-called ‘Tier-2 India’ — and they revel in their semi-educated, unsophisticated glory.

(Photo: Superboys of Malegaon/Altered by The Quint)

Located on the banks of the Girna River, the small town of Malegaon in Maharashtra's Nashik district accommodates many divides. It is divided by the Mosam River which snakes through the town's centre, cleaving it in two halves. On one side of the divide live Muslims, making up nearly 70 per cent of the population. On the other side live Hindus.

Every few years or decades, the town becomes divided on the lines of religion. Since 1963, six major communal riots have taken place in this town. After the demolition of Babri Masjid, when communal riots were tearing through Maharashtra in the bitter winter of 1992-93, Malegaon saw the worst of it. In 2006, a terror blast on a train once again left the town imploding on divisions.

Superboys of Malegaon, however, is not a film about divisions.

Though based on and dedicated to its namesake, the film is about unity, camaraderie, friendship, and hope. A biopic at its heart, the film tells the story of Nasir Shaikh, Malegaon's very own auteur, who put the city on the map for something other than being a “tinder box of communal riots”.

It tells the story of Malegaon itself, a town that continues to struggle against its own apparent destiny. 

Representation Matters

Directed by Reema Kagti, Superboys of Malegaon takes Malegaon’s OG filmmaker’s legacy seriously and actually manages to create a living example of what Nasir tried to prove with his works: that near-zero budget films can indeed be made, directed, edited, and even acted in, by youngsters armed with just their passion.

While there are many praiseworthy points about Superboys, the most endearing, perhaps, is its treatment of Muslim characters. Set in the late 1990s, the film depicts a turbulent span of 13 years till 2003 as it tells Nasir's story and his rag-tag film crew, who set about to make a parody of Hollywood’s Superman films to amuse a dying friend. 

Through the ambitious dreamer Nasir, audiences get to meet a motley crew of characters that neatly mimic real life. Like his best friend and muse Shafique, who dreams of becoming a supertsar but dies soon after the film's end; the realist Farogh, the group’s self-appointed scriptwriter who wants to make it big in Bollywood but realises that fame comes at a price; and videographer Akram who shaves off his beloved hair to appear more convincing as as Superman villain Lex Luther’s caricature.

There’s also the nod to feminism through Nasir’s wife Shabeena, who funds his films but also demands credit.

Indeed, in the tiring haze of hyper-masculine protagonists in films like Chhaava that often (and quite purposely) blend the lines between myth, history and propaganda, Superboys revels in its freshness and innocence. After a long time, here’s a film that introduces the audience to a cheerful and aspiring bunch of Muslim youth in a film that isn’t overtly centred on their religious identity. The characters are real, belonging to the so-called ‘Tier-2 India’ and who revel in their semi-educated, unsophisticated glory.

With Superboys, comedian-writer Varun Grover does not take the usual DEI-style ‘minority representation’ route often seen in Bollywood films. The film instead tries to flip the lensing on the idea of ‘representation’ of minorities in popular culture.

The Muslim characters in Superboys aren’t the usual gun-toting, bomb-making, surma-eyed variety of villains popularised as ‘terrorists’ or ‘separatists’ by mainstream, big-budget Bollywood films.

But neither are they the oppressed, victimised faces of communal fallout and majoritarian hatred summing up the other side of the representation spectrum. Does it matter that they are Muslim or Hindu? Not to them, at least.

What Should Be Known About Malegaon

The fact that the film takes place in the beleaguered Malegaon adds to the subliminal messaging. Known for its power loom industry, Malegaon is home to a large, working-class Muslim population. They work as weavers in the 84,000 power looms, owned mostly by the Hindus.

Originally from north India, Muslims in the region claim they migrated to these parts after the mutiny in 1957. Many of them had participated in the uprising and lost everything when the mutiny was crushed by the British. Despite strains of religious conservatism, the community’s working-class background makes them inclined towards democratic and Leftist movements. For these reasons, communalists have not succeeded in sowing the seeds of discord in Malegaon.

This film is not only a tribute to Nasir Shaikh and Malegaon but also a very powerful tribute to another film — its award-winning predecessor and muse, Supermen of Malegaon (2008), directed by Faiza Ahmad Khan.

"I had heard of Malegaon in the context of bomb blasts or communal violence. One day, I came across a report that spoke of films being made in Malegaon – one-hour-long movies made with no resources, financial or technical. So, in 2007, I went to Malegaon and met these people. Their passion was so contagious that I was motivated to come back and make a film on them."

Faiza Ahmad Khan

Reel to Real

But Malegaon’s passion for filmmaking has not translated into opportunities for work and income for the city. Today, in Malegaon, a worker earns less than Rs 2,000 a month. Over time, the town expanded to accommodate the growing number of power looms by throwing up fetid, overcrowded clusters of semi-pucca houses, with no electricity, no water supply, no toilet facilities, and lined by overflowing drains.

It exists as an underbelly of the prosperous Maharashtra, a state marked by some of the sharpest economic disparities in the country. When a group of Malegaon’s residents recently returned the cheques given to them by a visiting delegation of Congress leaders, including the state’s chief minister, it reflected widespread public alienation and resentment over the monumental neglect accorded to a town where even a decent civil hospital does not exist to date.

Will films like Superboys matter to the real-life people of Malegaon? Could representation really improve the lives of the minority? Maybe. Maybe not. What they do, though, is humanise the people, especially Muslim citizens in small-town cities and villages across India today, who are increasingly being targeted on the basis of religion.

Despite its disreputable fame in communal violence, a middle-aged lady who spent her entire childhood in Malegaon spoke with The Quint (without wishing to be named), insisting that most of the ‘stories’ of communal conflicts in Malegaon are usually the creations of political leaders, usually affiliated to majoritarian right-wing groups. 

In that sense, a film like Superboys of Malegaon manages to bring joy to the people of Malegaon not just with its funny spoofs but also with its depiction of normalcy. For that, it deserves three thumbs up.

(Shoma A Chatterji is an Indian film scholar, author and freelance journalist. This is an opinion article, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)