Amazon MGM Studios, Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby’s Superboys Of Malegaon (UA) is the story of how the town of Malegaon in Maharashtra came to have its own mini film industry.
Varun Grover has written an honest story about Malegaon’s home-grown film industry and how it came into being. His story has its heart in the right place. His screenplay is engaging for most of the part. However, the drama will appeal mainly to the class audience as it is about the technicalities of the film industry and the process of filmmaking. The human drama, set against the backdrop of the film industry, does have universal appeal, no doubt, but the technicalities of the film industry and its functioning are restrictive in appeal and may not be interesting for many. The conflict in the last part should’ve been stronger for a more fulfilling impact. Varun Grover and Shoaib Zulfi Nazeer’s dialogues are excellent.
Adarsh Gourav acts so naturally as Nasir that it doesn’t even seem like he is acting. He is wonderful. Shashank Arora plays Shafique so beautifully that one can’t have enough of him. His expressions are to die for. Vineet Kumar Singh shines in the role of Farogh. Manjiri Pupala acts excellently as Trupti. Muskaan Jaferi is very realistic as Shabeena. Riddhi Kumar is good in a special appearance as Mallika. Gyanendra Tripathi lends superb support as Nihal. Anuj Singh Duhan is impactful as Akram. Saqib Ayub makes his mark as Irfan. Pallav Singh has his moments as Aleem. Anmol Khajani is good in the role of Nadeem. Sanjay Dadich has his moments as Siraj. Abhinav Grover performs ably as Raju. Yash Yogendra (as Asif Albela), Athar Nawaz (as Farogh’s father), Kavita Pais (as Farogh’s stepmother), Nirbhay Jain (as Ibrahim Qazi), Dhananjay Kapoor (as the doctor in Nashik), Varad Bhatnagar (as the halaal guy), Jagdish Rajpurohit (as film producer Sunny Talreja), Farid Kazi (as Imaam saab), Ranjit Deval (as Mallika’s father), Amita Pavera (as Mallika’s mother), Nand Kumar Deshpande (as the maulvi), Harshad Kumar (as the Malegaon sub-inspector), Nitin Salunke (as the owner of Mangal Parlour), Nimisha Sirohi (as the receptionist in the producer’s office), Chetan Mishra (as Soorma Bhopali), Shankar Dada (as Ramdeo), Iqbal Shaikh (as the cycle repair shop owner), and the others lend the necessary support.
Reema Kagti’s direction is sensitive. Her narration is so heartfelt that her passion and brilliance ooze out of every scene. But the fact remains that the film is class-appealing. Sachin-Jigar’s music is nice and is in synch with the mood of the film. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics deserve distinction marks. Sachin-Jigar’s background music is impactful and heightens the impact of the drama. Swapnil S. Sonawane’s cinematography is lovely. Amritpal Singh’s action and stunt scenes are suitably exciting. Sally White’s production designing is extraordinary. Anand Subaya’s editing is super-sharp.
On the whole, Superboys Of Malegaon has its heart in the right place. But the story of the underdogs does not have universal appeal. At best, it is meant for the elite audience. It will win a lot of critical acclaim.
Released on 28-2-’25 at Inox (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: fair. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull at most of the places.
