Live your dream, "Superboys of Malegaon" movie director says

LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters): Director Reema Kagti hopes her new film "Superboys of Malegaon", based on a real-life Indian amateur filmmaker, will inspire audiences to live their dreams.

The feel-good drama follows wedding videographer Nasir Shaikh as he convinces his friends in his hometown of Malegaon to help him make a movie.

"There is this very strong underdog story ... and it's also the story of a community and a group of friends," Kagti told Reuters during the London Film Festival, where the film is on the program.

"I hope it inspires people to live their dream," she said of the fictional biopic that she also co-wrote.

Director Reema KagtiInstagram

That sentiment was echoed by producer Zoya Akhtar, who said the story of the movie-loving friends who find success parodying hit films, showed it took nothing to "take a step in the direction you want to go".

Akhtar and Kagti, who have worked together for three decades and founded the production company Tiger Baby Films in 2015, decided to dramatize Shaikh’s story after meeting him at a film festival over 10 years ago.

While a documentary was released about the DIY filmmakers in 2012, Akhtar said the movie offered more insight into Shaikh.

"(This film) is the making of Nasir ... (and) what it took for somebody that didn't have a proper theatre in their town."

Producer Zoya AkhtarInstagram

Actor Adarsh Gourav, known for the "The White Tiger" said it was Shaikh's "appetite for risk" that drew him to the role.

"To be born in Malegaon and to sacrifice a life that was mundane but was also well set ... I think there's a very, big risk that he took ... (a) willingness to sacrifice everything that he had," he said.

"Superboys of Malegaon" is set for cinema release in India in January 2025, before streaming on Prime Video.

(Reporting by Sarah Mills; Editing by Alison Williams)