ABSTRACT
A recent and acclaimed documentary, Supermen of Malegaon (d.Faiza Ahmad Khan, 2008), 1 outlines, in a mode that is simultaneously witty and heartfelt, the rise of a very local, ultra-artisanal film 'industry' based in Malegaon, a small town about 300 kilometers from Mumbai. Shaikh Nasir, playfully referred to as the 'Dadasaheb Phalke' (Joshi 2009) of Malegaon, got this show on the road when he made a film entitled Malegaon ke Sholay (2000), shot on a handycam and starring locals who resembled the megastars of the classic. It was clearly a spoof: the villain was called Rubber pace Gabbar and Sholay's (Ramesh Sippy, 1975) Basanti turned into Basmati. At the same time, the spoof was also a loving homage to what is probably the defining film of the 1970s. It became an instant classic as the residents of Malegaon poured into the video parlor to watch their own Sholay, and Nasir doubled his investment and went on to make many more such 'remakes.' More recently Nasir has turned his sights to Hollywood and made his most expensive film to date, Superman (2008), where the eponymous hero played by Shafique is Malegaon's version of the caped crusader out to fight the local gutka-king who is turning the town into tobacco addicts.
