Amodini's Movie Reviews

Year : 2008
Genre : Documentary
Running time : 79 minutes
Director : Faiza Ahmad Khan
Actors : Shaikh Nasir, Akram Khan, Farogh Jafri, Shafiq, Shakeel Bharati

“Supermen of Malegaon” is a film about the making of another film “Malegaon ka Superman”. Yes, it is not just the Yash Chopras and the Karan Johars with their vast resources who have the desire to make films. It is also an enthusiast in the small town of Malegaon who wishes to see his dreams come alive on celluloid. Having made several small shorts on a next to nil budget, one of them being a spoof on Sholay called “Malegaon ke Sholay”, self-taught filmmaker Shaikh Nasir is set to attempt his next ambitious project. This time, inspired by Hollywood, it is a spoof on Superman. Faiza Ahmad Khan, the creator of this documentary, chronicles his efforts.

This is great for us, because “Supermen of Malegaon” is a treat to watch. Khan documents the film making effort – true, but more importantly she gives us an insight into the passion that drives wedding videographer Nasir to make a film with his meager budget. Nasir’s film, meant to be a parody, takes it’s cues from Bollywood, which means that it has a hero, heroine and a villain, complete with romance, fight sequences and a song. The hero, because he is Superman has a red-and-blue costume with boxers and cape, stitched by the village tailor. Emblazoned on his chest is a bold M for Malegaon. The hero is played by scrawny powerloom worker Shafique, and the heroine is a non-local actress, because the men of Malegaon won’t let their women work outside the home.

Malegaon is a typical Indian small-town – dusty streets, narrow unpaved roads, poverty writ large on the faces of the children that gather to watch the shoot. A textile producing center with powerloom mills, it offers little in the way of entertainment, but is very fond of Bollywood. Little shops derive titles from Hindi blockbusters and kids name hero and heroines by heart. Nasir’s crew is a motley bunch, piecing together the storyline for their film with audience titillating “hooks” like a bomb blast, but adapting it to Indian surroundings. Thus Superman suffers from pollution induced asthma, and the villain is the King of Thu-thu Gutka (tobacco).

Nasir’s film also has stunts, and Superman flying through the air. To achieve these he, along with using techniques like chroma key technology also makes use of rickshaws, trucks (the beloved “public carrier” of Indian roads) and manpower. Thus we have Superman aka Shafiq, flying through the air in front of a green screen, his body balanced on narrow wooden beams that run through his costume, the whole contraption supported on a rickshaw cart and a bunch of willing hands.

While on the surface this film is light-hearted and slap-sticky, it has undertones which show us the lives of the village folk, the poverty and the quiet desperation of it’s people. While Nasir won’t let his younger brother into film-making because he fears that it will turn him into a swagger filled hero with no trade, and is content to restrict his talents to Malegaon, his scriptwriter Farogh and soundman Akram dream of making it big in Mumbai. This documentary might not be a laughter fest, but it does carry along on an upbeat note, chiefly because of it’s people – the passionate and determined Nasir, the hollow-cheeked, frail-looking Shafiq wanting to act like Amitabh Bachchan, the poet Farogh and the marvelously dramatic Akram. Quite inspiring.

The film itself has a “handheld” feel, as though Khan went from person to person asking questions, probing beneath the surface. The humor like the pathos is an undercurrent, and derives from the often quirky situations Nasir faces while shooting the film to his satisfaction.

This documentary ends with the completion and premiere of “Malegaon ka Superman” at Nasir’s old video parlor. It is received with humongous applause by the village people, a fact that leaves Nasir smiling and excited. And this film, the charming documentary that chronicles the making of “Malegaon ka Superman” has been applauded by the rest of the world. “Supermen of Malegaon” has made the Festival rounds garnering for itself many awards, and has finally hit the theaters in the US. It is distributed by FilmKaravan.

A very interesting watch, I highly recommend it.

This is a documentary by Diana El Jeiroudi, who has scripted, written and directed the film. The film is about a young woman Manal, and her fight, if you could call it that, to be employed in a job outside the home. She wants it because it engages her mind, gives her a sense of identity (she uses a word very similar to “wajood”). However her wants are against traditional Syrian society and culture where women are expected to work only if they need financial help. As she herself puts it the elders want the girls to get out of school and get married – no college/university etc.

As a metaphor to her life, Jeiroudi, in parallel shows us the Fulla doll, a Syrian version of Barbie. Fulla is a veiled doll, that is her clothing is covered by an outer abaya, which covers her hair and neck, so the only part of her that you can see is her face. Fulla, we are told by a Fulla company representative is fashioned after the populace at which she is directed. He says that they try to make her (Fulla) conservative – and by conservative he says he means a woman who respects, is obedient etc. He says they took feedback from the public, they flattened her chest, made her undergarments a part of the body, so that even if her clothes were taken off, the doll could not be “naked”.

 In the beginning of the film, there is a voiceover (by Jeiroudi, I assume) which tells us that the veil is coming back in fashion. Also we see women on the streets in Western wear, pants, skirts, jeans and tights, but with their heads covered by the veil. Manal also wears Western clothes – we see her in pants and long skirts, and kurti like tops. She also wears a head covering. Also featuring in the film are her husband Bashar and their daughters Naya and Yara. There are also her parents and her in-laws.

This is an interesting film, especially since Jeiroudi succeeds in conveying Manal’s emotions so well. Manal wants to work outside the home for herself, and for her sense of self, as she did once, and Jeiroudi documents her search for a job, in a conservative, patriarchal society.

Beautifully done, I highly recommend this one.