Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2019
Running time : 2.5 hours
Director : Zoya Akhtar
Cast : Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Vijay Raaz, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Amruta Subhash, Vijay Verma, Kalki Koechlin, Sheeba Chaddha
Kid rating : PG
I convinced my son to come see Gully Boy with us because he, like most desi teenagers, is into rap these days – that was the USP, but I was unprepared for how much rap there was in this movie. He liked the movie more than I did 🙂 . I did like Gully Boy, but not in the way I adored Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
Murad (Singh) is a chauffeur’s son from Dharavi. His father (Raaz) has taken a much-younger, second wife, which is causing chaos and drama in the small chawl they all live in together. The incessant poverty, the constant beat-down from his parents (keep your head down, a servant’s son will always remain a servant), the ubiquitous classism, the societal strictures preventing him from acknowledging his love for Safeena (Bhatt) are taking a toll on rebellious Murad. He finds an outlet for his pent-up anguish in poetry which, on encouragement from MC Sher (Chaturvedi), he voices through rap.
Gully Boy is pretty intense. Zoya Akhtar really drives home the grittiness with realistic dialog, locales and genuine depth to the characters. Ranveer as Murad is Ranveer as we’ve never seen him before: unsmiling and unvarnished – shorn of all his accoutrements and his trademark swagger (what a difference from Simmba!). We see him, another poorly-dressed lad on the street, backpack, earphones in place. We see him at home, head bent, quietly taking the slaps his father deals him for his uppity-ness. Later we see him rebel, and root for him as he starts giving it back, throwing his father’s belittling words back in his face (“Will someone else tell me who I am?”), and we cheer.
Gully Boy, despite my aversion to rap, works because it is an underdog story – and we love those. It works because Zoya Akhtar has the courage and the sensitivity to portray a bunch of issues (classism, poverty, powerlessness of women), subtly tying them into the fabric of Murad’s story. And it works because of Murad’s character, who’s got the gumption to battle the soul-destroying chorus of “you are nothing”, and dream on.
The cherry on the top are these beautifully done scenes set to some sublime poetry. My favorite was set to “Doori”, as Murad chauffers his employer’s daughter in her expensive car, and she weeps for an unknown reason. He stonily looks ahead, the faceless servant, unable to cross the class barrier to ask or to console. There is another scene set to “Ek Hee Raasta” which questions the rat-race; a portrayal of truth like no other.
Accolades to the actors – Ranveer and Alia and Vijay Raaz, known faces all, are terrific. Film debutant Chaturvedi as Sher and marathi actress Amruta Subhash as Murad’s mother are fantastic. Vijay Verma (we saw him in Pink, remember?) as small-time con-man Moeen drove me to tears. Kalki as Berklee-educated musician Sky is as always, just so right. Chaddha, whom we saw recently in Badhai Ho, is impeccable as Safeena’s mom.
I find Gully Boy a tad lacking in the entertainment department, but was still drawn in and engrossed by Murad’s story. Recommended.
Kidwise: Some adult situations, some lip locks, but that’s about it.
