“Bombay nahin jaa sakte, Bombay ko idhar le aate,” says our Malegaon ka movie moghul in this startling meditation on parodic filmmaking.

This is 1997, when Mumbai was Bombay, and dreams died first. Reema Kagti takes us right into the heart of a world of self-styled filmmakers in the small dusty town of Malegao in Maharashtra, which acquired something akin to fame when a bunch of local boys decided to make their own Sholay and fake their own grand illusions.

Straight off, a standing ovation with a slow-clap for the four actors who play the Malegoan moviegoers. Adarsh Gourav is the director Nasir who won’t stop dreaming even when the lights have been switched off. Shashank Arora is the aspiring actor so blindly devoted to Nasir’s dream he won’t let his devotion dither for a second. Anuj Singh Duhan is Akram, the team’s cinematographer. Then there is Vineet Kumar Singh as Farogh,...