Shaikh Shafique, the cancer-stricken leading man of the “Superman” spoof “Malegaon Ka Superrman“, passed away after the film’s producers drove down to Malegaon to screen the film for the dying hero, his family and friends. He was 28.
It’s a story straight out of a melodrama. The hero of a film dying of terminal disease, watches his film from his deathbed, since a bed was arranged inside the theatre for the hero and quietly dies thereafter.
The special farewell screening of the small-budget “Malegoan Ka Superrman” was held at the Central Talkies in Malegoan, Maharashtra, Tuesday night. And then immediately after the screening, Shafique breathed his last.
Shafique is survived by his wife and two young daughters.
Producer Sunil Bohra said: “It was as if Shaikh was just waiting to see himself in screen before saying goodbye forever. Shaikh couldn’t move. His bed had to be brought into the theatre. That’s how he watched the film. Since he had throat cancer, he couldn’t talk. He was barely able to raise his hand acknowledging us. But he saw the film lying down in rapt attention. Then, he was gone….”
Too cinematic to be true, Bohra was badly shaken by the tragedy. “We knew Shaikh was dying. So in spite of warnings about piracy we decided to screen the film for Shaikh and his family and friends. We don’t care whether the film gets pirated. We’re happy it made Shaikh happy.”
On Wednesday morning, Bohra read a message from the film’s director Shaikh Nasir that the film’s hero was dead.
“When I saw him smiling at the screening, I thought Shaikh Shafique would live for some time. How were we to know the end was so near? At least he died a hero’s death. The theatre was jam-packed. Our Superman was lying in bed, watching himself on screen with me and Anurag (co-producer Anurag Kashyap),” said Bohra.
Ironically Shafique, who succumbed to throat cancer, is shown fighting the tobacco mafia in “Malegoan Ka Superrman”. He was an aspiring actor moonlighted as a worker in a cloth factory to sustain his family. Bohra has decided to look after Shaikh’s family.
Bohra has big plans for the release of “Malegaon Ka Superrman”.
“After the film, Shaikh would be bigger than the ‘Superman’ in the Hollywood films,” he assures.
— By Subhash K. Jha
