Faiza Ahmad Khan - Superman of Malegaon

First movie: "Superman of Malegaon" a low budget (as low as 250$) movie produced in the city of Malegaon in India, known for its loom industry. Shaikh Nasir is the multi-talented director who does everything and learns on the way. He takes the Superman hero and "indianize" him with local twist and plenty of humor. His target audience was the local video parlors or theater in his neighborhood. He says: "I did not go anywhere to learn film making. I just wanted to do something different". The objective is a parody, as he says :"Life is full of tears and sorrow, laughter is precious."




Second movie: presented in Kuwait at the DIA theatre by its director Faiza Ahmad Khan. It is a documentary on the making of "Superman of Malegaon". The process of casting, filming, editing, special effects is as light as the humor in the movie itself. It shows all the endeavor to surmount mountains of obstacles by the director and yet it doesn't dwell on poverty's misery and tough conditions. The one and only camera fell in water. This could have ended it all, but Nasir Bhai went to town, repaired and it rolled again. He doesn't shout the classical: "action!" but says to his crew and star actor: "start". And they all have a good laugh when they can.
The documentary (finished in april 08) won awards around the globe and the western media then got interested in Mollywood (the alternative to Bollywood). CBC Canada send a team of five to film another documentary on "India reborn" and the emerging film making in Malegaon.
Faiza Ahmad Khan was able to show with a much longer time frame and a heftier budget, a refreshing perspective to those who try to make a difference with what they have on hand.

Link to: caldecott productions