In this 21st century, facts are constantly trailing behind the emergence of strong narratives and propaganda. Because of this, the need for educating yourself for every aspect of your life is important more than ever. It is evident that today there are a lesser number of people who has time and patience to sit and read any book about a subject which is different from their field of study or involvement. But on the other hand, 60% of the population are visual learners. That’s why Documentary films come out as a perfect platform to create a visual dialogue with their information and linear storytelling techniques. They highlight the important topics to our table in a captivating way which en-kindles conversation, and sometimes even social movements. That’s why ‘Documentary’ stands out as a more effective medium of mass education than books.
‘A Documentary A Week’
Nowadays we have a culture of watching movies or series regularly. But that doesn’t apply to documentary movies. Though the internet is full of those top 10, top 30, top 100 lists, we barely look on each of the works on those lists. But every single of them is equally important covering a different field of subject. That’s why I’ve come up with the concept of ‘A Documentary A Week’. Each week, I’ll recommend a documentary. Your job is to watch that and write what you have learnt or what new information you got. The subject of the recommended documentaries will range over various topics. Within 10 weeks, you will discover how a plethora of knowledge you have acquired just by investing 1 or 2 hours a week.
So without any further ado lets come to our inaugural pick. That is ‘Supermen of Malegaon’.
We all have a preconceived notion about documentary movies is that these movies are of slow, monotonous tone; not meant for the entertainment value. Which is kinda true. Most of the times it is because of the grave subject matter or it is because the maker decides to keep the tone serious. But our first pick is an exception from any conventional documentary movies. ‘Supermen of Malegaon’ a jolly good take on Malegaon film industry which will surely break you laughing and make you inspire at the same time.
Supermen of Malegaon
Director:- Faiza Ahmad Khan
Cinematography:- Gargey Trivedi, Parasher Baruah
Release:- 29 June 2012
Language:- Hindi
Country:- India
Awards:-
- Jury Award for Best Documentary at Asiatica Film Mediale, RomeBest Editing
- Documentary and Director at the Asian Festival of First Films, Singapore
https://youtu.be/dqRq7ZpjF0I
Actually made in 2008, Faiza Ahmad Khan’s award-winning documentary was released across theatres on June 29, 2012. Located less than 300 km from Mumbai, the power loom industry runs Malegaon. Subsequently, another industry is booming in Malegaon. That is its unique film industry, ‘Mollywood’. It produces small-budget rip-offs of Bollywood hits. The documentary follows the journey of director Shaikh Nasir and his team, a group of cinema buffs from Malegaon, as they go about making ‘Yeh Hai Malegaon ka Superman’.
In this journey, we will witness how a group of small-town cinema enthusiasts strives to create something different. Despite the economic instability and social tension, they create peculiar, low-budgeted spoofs. In other words, their very own films. Motivated by the previous successful ventures, we see them buckling up for Hollywood projects. This 64-minute light-hearted commentary on Malegaon Film Industry a.k.a. ‘Mollywood’ will never let you feel that you are watching some conventional documentary. Do watch ‘Supermen of Malegaon’ to witness these nobodies overcome their shortcomings. All for the sake of what they all believe in. Cinema!
You can watch it on YouTube & Amazon Prime.
Love Cinema.
Thank You.
Shreosi Ghosh