Faiza Khan’s documentary on the spoof films being made in Malegaon also reflects the spirit of passionate filmmakers
Malegaon has often been in the news, mostly for ethnicviolence. On September 8, 2006, 37 people died and 125 were seriously injuredwhen three bomb blasts hit a cemetery in Malegaon town. On September 29, 2008,the eve of Ramzan, two bombs exploded in Malegaon, killing seven persons.However, the focus on Malegaon this time is for another reason, a rather‘filmy’ one. And that’s because of the extremely touching and entertainingdocumentary titled ‘Supermen Of Malegaon’ made by Faiza Khan which brings tolight a thriving film industry in this textile town, which has now beenchristened Mollywood.
With outstanding reviews and awards received fromprestigious film festivals in Rome, U.S., Singapore, Romania and Stuttgart,among others, the film records the journey of a group of intrepid filmmakersand how their passion for making films remains undefeated despite the lack offunds or even the right equipment and professional actors. Surprisingly then,beyond its poverty and high level of illiteracy, Malegaon has its own microfilmmaking system wherein those with a bent for creative indulgence willwillingly make spoofs of hit Hindi and Hollywood films. This includes aspin-off on ‘Sholay’ titled ‘Malegaon Ke Sholay’ and one on ‘Superman’ titled‘Malegaon Ka Superman’, currently under production.
“What drove me to make this documentary was the spiritbehind the filmmakers of Malegaon. They are absolute fanatics about movies andyou will find there fan clubs for all the big actors, including MithunChakraborty, Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, and so on. Every Friday they meetin a dingy room and watch films on a VCR. They repeat the dialogues, dance tosongs and also light up firecrackers when there is an exceptionally good scene.It’s an amazing sight,” says Faiza Khan, who has done a course in mass communicationfrom Mumbai. The documentary provides an insight into how enterprise canovercome the biggest of obstacles.
