Reema Kagti opens up on making Superboys Of Malegoan; says, “The man whose life the movie is based on, is truly inspirational”

By Subhash K. Jha -

February 26, 2025 - 1:41 PM IST

What stoked your interest in Malegoan and how did this project come about?
Nasir Sheikh, the man whose life the movie is based on, is truly inspirational, and his DIY filmmaking led to an underground video filmmaking parallel industry and universe. That really connected with me. There is a love for cinema in Nasir’s lived experience that grabbed me. He and his friends made films with no agenda apart from real love for cinema which I found irresistible.

Reema Kagti opens up on making Superboys Of Malegoan; says, “The man whose life the movie is based on, is truly inspirational”

This is the story of a bunch of losers, but you seem to have swung the mood towards optimism, how come?
I don’t see them as that at all, the idea of who is successful, who is not, these things are like beauty, it’s in the eyes of the beholder. I find the man incredibly inspirational bunch, they are heroes. And once you see the film you might have a change of opinion on them too.

Tell me about the cast; were all these brilliant boys your first choice?
The casting was done by Nandini Shrikent and Karan Mally. We have previously worked with some of the boys: Vineet Kumar Singh in Gold, Shashank Arora in Made in Heaven, Adarsh Gourav in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan so I was completely aware of their calibre and acting skills. So yes they were our first choices for their roles.

Was the documentary Supermen Of Malegoan a reference point?
No, the documentary is not a reference point because that is about a couple of months of

Nasir’s life, it’s about the making of Superman of Malegaon. While our film is spread over a decade and it’s really trying to understand the genesis of Nasir as a director and his story.

And a town that came alive with filmmaking.

Where would you place Malegaon in your own repertoire?
I don’t really know Sir. Isn’t that a question for other people to answer? All I can say is I truly had a tremendous journey through the making of the film. It was a labour of love not just for me but my entire cast and crew.

It’s been a while since you directed a feature film, any particular reason for that? What are you making next?
Yes it has been a while. Part of the reason was existing commitments at my production house Tiger Baby and COVID that created havoc with that schedule. Once we delivered all those I was able to move on to Superboys of Malegaon. My next project is also a feature film that Zoya Akhtar and I have just finished writing.

Also Read: Zoya Akhtar praises Superboys of Malegaon’s real star Nasir Shaikh’s evolution; says, “Hunger is there. Like, he wants to make a bigger film now”