Through the lens, the other side of Malegaon

The name Malegaon may conjure up images of communal violence and bomb blasts but the city also boasts of a lesser known local film industry that has produced hilarious spoofs of Bollywood films over the years.

When Sheikh Nasir Khan, first decided to make Malegaon ke Sholay back in 2000 all he had was a VHS camera with no prior experience of making movies.

"I had a video parlour where I used to screen big English films. I used to edit them on VCR and then I bought a VHS camera and used to shoot marriages. Then my friends suggested that I make a film and I took the locals who look a bit like the heroes in Sholay and made Malegaon ke Sholay," Nasir told PTI over phone.

The movie, made on a budget of Rs50,000 managed to rake in Rs2 lakh and Nasir says, he never thought Malegaon ke Sholay would get such an immense response.

"The movie was made for sheer fun and I never thought it would get such a huge response but I feel people here get attracted to parodies as they were the only means of entertainment in the city with 8-15 lakh population," said Nasir who followed the film with another spoof Malegaon Ki Shaan.

Apart from Nasir, others in the city too tried their hands on filmmaking and came out with spoofs of Lagaan, Don, Karan Arjun, Rangeela and Mughal-e-Azam.

A recent documentary by debutante filmmaker Faiza Khan has now brought Malegaon's film fraternity into global limelight with Malegaon Ke Supermen winning awards at International film festivals like Asiatica Film Mediale in Rome, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) and at the Karachi film festival.

"I had only heard about communal violence in Malegaon, the film industry was an interesting juxtaposition. The films made in Malegaon are a community endeavour, they do it for their love of cinema," says Faiza whose documentary will now be screened at the 11 Osian's Cinefan Film Festival.

"Although my documentary has been screened abroad and the audience enjoyed it but I feel it's screening at Osian's will be important as it will change the impression of people towards Malegaon," Faiza adds.

But the road to glory for Nasir and his counterparts has been rock strewn as he battled financial troubles which led to the closing down of his video parlour and he started selling garments. But, the 33-year-old is now back with his first Hollywood spoof Malegaon ka Superman.

"I have always financed my own films and due to license trouble I was forced to change my profession. However, the people of Malegaon have been really co-operative and Superman is a hit here, I am sure people will love it," says Nasir.

The filming of the documentary by Faiza on Malegaon's film industry also helped Nasir to learn new techniques and work on Malegaon's most expensive film till now and the city's first Hollywood spoof, Malegaon ka Superman.