You laugh, you cry, you think — this Reema Kagti film is simply unmissable

In a particularly riveting scene in Superboys of Malegaon, two characters — the director and writer — are fighting over who made their film a hit. In a moment of rage, the writer screams ‘Writer baap hota hai!’ And it feels like the fourth wall has broken, and the one being addressed is our film industry.

- Rishabh Suri

Directed by Reema Kagti, this piece of work is a reminder of what made us fall in love with films in the first place. It’s a declaration to our industry, which is struggling to find what it is that makes theatre-viewing stick with audiences.

Based on a real life story, it revolves around Nasir (Adarsh Gourav) who is screening English classics starring Charlie Chaplin in 1994, when the sleepy town of Malegaon is only interested in Hindi masala films. After his movie parlour is demolished by the police for pirating films, he decides to make a film, Malegaon ka Sholay. Assisting him are his friends — Shafique (Shashank Arora), Farogh (Viineet Singh), Akram (Anuj Singh Duhan). Are they successful? What happens next forms the rest of the story.

A film about a film should be declared a genre unto itself now, and the Akhtars are as credible a source as they come.