MALEGAON KA SUPERMAN

Everyone is a critique! We all talk about how a movie could be better or how a particular scene could be funnier. But that is all we do, talk. We never actually pick up a camera, call some of our friends and actually start making a movie. But that’s exactly what Faiza Ahmad Khan does. I am sure his friends and relatives would havefound his idea absurd in the beginning and some people may still do, but the fact that his movies provide a gateway for many people to escape their daily tiresome routines for some laughs and to feel a connection with the cast and scenarios shownin his movies must make Ahmad a very satisfied man.

One of the things that the documentary tells us is that people with dreams and aspirations can be found everywhere and we do find many in Malegaon with dreamsof becoming successful as writers, directors, editors etc. While some like Ahmad do get on with the journey of turning their dreams into reality many others don’t. I could indentify myself with one of the characters when he says that he has had the dream to go to Mumbai and become a successful scriptwriter but somehow he’s never managed to do so, even though Mumbai is not so far away from Malegaon. I too have some things which I really want to pursue in my life but even though it’s not very distant or farfetched, somehow I have never been able to do them. It’s the first step which I am afraid to take fearing all the uncertainties (good or bad) which lie ahead. Because as is the case with the writer, once you get in, it’ll be hard to getout. He may become a very good writer and earn accolades but he can also get lost among the many others such as himself who roam the streets in Mumbai in search of work. But to know what would happen he has got to take the risk and it’s the fearof the risk that’s holding him back.

Another thing that the film points towards is copying and plagiarizing. When it comes to copying I think it’s the intention that matters. Copying can be of many types, there is one where you want to avoid some work and are not interested and simply want an easy way out. But what Ahmad does with the idea of superman in his movie should not be termed copying because his intention is to make the peopleof his town enjoy the documentary and have a few laughs. Other than the ability to fly and superpowers there is very little in common between the Malegaon’s superman and the superman of the western world. His problems are very different and very relatable with problems of the residents of Malegaon and he solves them in his own unique way, like flying to great heights in order to catch cell phone signals.

One more important thing that we learn from the documentary is that innovation can be found in unlikely places and it also proves to be a testimony of the fact that we Indians are the best when it comes to jugaad (a quick, alternative way of solvingor fixing problems). From using a truck to hang the green screen to hoisting the actor on rods to make it look like he’s flying to climbing power transmission towers in search of a vantage point for the camera to using a bullock cart as a crane for

mounting the camera, Ahmad and his crew do it all that can be done without the help of any modern equipments and still obtain wonderful results. It signifies that to do something the most important thing that’s needed is the will, the rest will follow.

Divyaprakash (13310052)