Gully Boy Movie Review: An Extraordinary Performance from Ranveer Singh

'Gully Boy', starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, is one of Zoya Akhtar’s stronger films.

Gully Boy

Director: Zoya Akhtar

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Raaz, Vijay Verma, Amruta Subhash, SheebaChaddha, Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Maurya

Zoya Akhtar’s new film Gully Boy is an underdog story about a poor fellow from Dharavi whose dreams are bigger than his reality. It’s loosely based on the lives of Naezy and Divine, who made the journey from rags to rap-stars. Like them Murad, our protagonist, is determined not to let his circumstances restrict his ambition.

But there are many layers to the film: it’s also about Murad’s coming-of-age and his discovery and understanding of who he truly is and what he stands for. It’s about finding one’s expression, in this case, through poetry and rap. It’s also a beautiful love story, and on some level it’s a love letter to Mumbai – a city where the haves and the have-nots exist in a tentative sort of peace, where skyscrapers overlook slums, where you can be poor and still have integrity, and where dreams frequently come true.

"Gully Boy" is a film about a 22-year-old boy "Murad" (Ranveer Singh) from a ghetto in Mumbai, India. The son of a driver, his parents worked hard to get him educated so that he could have a white collar job. Meanwhile, Murad realizes his calling to be a rapper. Authentic Hip Hop in India is a recent phenomenon and like anywhere else in the world, is rising from the streets. Art is a distant dream for the colonized poor of India and this story is about Murad's journey from realizing his love for rap and chasing his dream to inadvertently transcending his class. The film showcases street rap from the crevices of Mumbai's by lanes. The poetry is conscious of the city's socio-economic fabric and highlights the challenges faced by the disenfranchised youth in the minority population.

Release date: 14 February 2019 (India)

Director: Zoya Akhtar

Music director: Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy

Producers: Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani