The 33rd annual Philadelphia Film Festival runs October 17-27, 2024 and features over 100 films this year. Most films play twice and our own Justin Nordell will be sharing “Philly Film Fest Fast Reviews” to give you a taste of the festival so you can pick and choose which films to make for the second screenings!
First and foremost, credit where credit is due: the FOCUS ON INDIA section of the 33rd Philadelphia Film Festival has been exceptional, with each film showcasing the diverse and exciting cinema that India has been releasing for years. The final film of the series playing the festival, Superboys of Malegaon, is no exception.
Nasir (Adarsh Gourav, Netflix’s The White Tiger) works for his brother as a wedding videographer, but his true passion is the movies. His main outlet is underground screenings, where he forces his captive audience to watch everything from American classics to Bollywood bootlegs – sometimes even mashed up together. After a screening gets broken up by the cops (his mashups are copyright infringement after all), Nasir gets the idea that he could just make his own versions of the blockbusters that his audiences crave and convinces all of his friends into making his dream of filmmaking come true. This ragtag group of film enthusiasts and friends somehow manage to create their very own bonafide parody hit with the locals of Malegaon, which in turn leads to ubiquitous sequels. But when interpersonal dynamics start to get rocky, it takes a tragedy in the group to bring them back together to make one final important film.
This based-on-a-true story heartwarmer will be released by Amazon in 2025, but this is a unique chance to see this crowd pleaser with an audience in a theater. And frankly, that’s the way a film like this, a love letter to the movies, was meant to be seen.
Grade: B+
Catch it at PFF33: Sunday, October 27th at 10:15am at the PFS East
Tickets Available Here: https://prod5.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/ticketsearchcriteria.aspx?evtinfo=429914
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