It isn’t often that I have encountered a film that lived up to its promise. My expectations were high when I went to the theatre yesterday to watch Gully Boy and I was not disappointed. Not only are the performances, direction and script pitch perfect, the movie gives us a new appreciation for the rap scene.
Ranveer Singh plays Murad a boy from Dharavi’s slums; who writes poetry and discovers a rapper within himself. Limited means, an abusive father and circumstances do not prevent him from having faith in his own talent and pursuing his dreams.
Gully Boy is also a tribute to young love: strong, steadfast, with its share of drama. Murad and Safeena (Alia Bhatt) have a passionate bond that endures, weathering ups and downs that come its way.
Alia’s Safeena is not shy of beating up a woman and breaking a beer bottle over another's head to stake her claim to her man. She also sweetly tells a prospective mother in law who asks her if she can cook; that if all went well, she would be able to transplant her liver one day. She is a rocket that explodes frequently; without warning!
The crowded houses with every inch being used, the lingo, Mumbai's very atmosphere is beautifully captured by director Zoya Akhtar, dialogue writer Vijay Maurya and screenplay writers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. The desperation of the mean streets, the constraints of poverty and people cowed by their circumstances are finely etched; as is the indefatigable hope that struggles through it all.
The boy from the mean streets and a minority community easily holds his own with the posh, well-travelled Sky played by Kalki Koechlin. The movie also has a refreshingly progressive take on relationships and sends out an unambiguous feminist message. The movie makes us believe that anyone can have faith; that apna time aayega.
The casting is spot on. Apart from the leads, Siddhant Chaturvedi as MC Sher is superb and kind of lovable. Vijay Raaz as Aftab Sheikh, the abusive father is hateful but in the end also sympathetic. Vijay Varma as Moeen is the petty criminal but also the decent guy and a loyal friend under it all. Characters played by Amruta Subhash (Razia Sheikh), Sheeba Chaddha (Safeena’s mother) and Nakul Sahdev (Salman) are just right and hugely believable.
Perhaps rap or hip hop artistes are the poets of our times. The rap scene is something of a grassroots social movement the film suggests. This is the film, which असली हिप हॉप से मिलाये हिंदुस्तान को – introduces India to real hip hop?
I am not a huge rap fan, but I simply loved the music of the film. The songs are a vital part of the film; and are perfectly enmeshed in the narrative. Apna time aayega is madly catchy and has become something of an angsty anthem of its times. Jeene mein aaye maza is soft, melodious and memorable. Jingostan is a pointed comment about the prevailing chest-thumping jingoism, the online hate and the easy classification of people who don’t agree with one as anti-national and general alarmism we see around us. The lyrics of all the songs are relevant and thought-provoking, and they have us all swaying to the beat.
I don’t know about you, but I like movies that have (spoiler alert) reasonably happy endings; without any overtly malign, villainous characters. The movie is upbeat, hopeful, emotional, funny, tender… it made me laugh and cry; cheer and applaud as well. As one Twitter comment said, I demand a sequel: Gully Girl.
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