Zoya Akhtar’s’s Gully Boy Proves Her Mettle As A director, Alia And Siddhant Are Phenomenal

Film: Gully Boy

Starring: Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh

Director: Zoya Akhtar

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

My Verdict: The film is on Ranveer, he does a good job but Alia proves yet again, she is one of the best actresses we have today and watch out for Siddhant Chaturvedi

The streets of Bombay, the neighbourhoods, the Mumbaiya lingo and the rap culture thriving in the underbelly of the city all make Gully Boy a film that is one of a kind. Filmmaking of this sort has not really been attempted prior to this one. And for the sheer attempt Zoya deserves a standing ovation.

The film showcases the rap culture in its pure form. And the lives of the boys who are too much into it. The worship Eminem, and know the lyrics of many famous rappers by heart!

The film tells the story of Murad played by Ranveer Singh who stays with friends who are car stealers but has a keen interest in all things RAP! We get to know that, when we see Murad can actually recite the lyrics of one of the famous rappers casually! In one college fest he meets MC Sher played by Siddhanth Chaturvedi and gets hooked with the way he looks, his mannerisms and more than anything else, his rap! Sher takes an instant liking for Murad as well, and the two embark on a friendship that has it’s base built on understanding each other! Alia Bhatt plays Murad’s love interest Safeena who is a loud-mouthed medical student and doesn’t think twice before bashing up any girl who even looks at Murad! Murad stays in a Dharavi Chawl with his father played by Vijay Raaz who gets twice married leaving Murad’s mother in a hapless condition! This backstory, the poverty, the circumstances lead Murad into a downward spiral and he can retrieve himself only through his passion which happens to be rap!

Director Zoya Akhtar has done a commendable job. She has finally managed to get rid of the elitist tag that she had almost tattooed on herself. The way she transformed the city of Bombay into a character is truly laudable.

Ranveer Singh as Murad looked very much into his character but still there was something missing. Something was not convincing. It was almost like he was trying too hard. The scenes where he had to be emotional and teary-eyed, didn’t come out well at all, it was evident that he had a lot of glycerine in his eyes! The rapping portions were well-done and deserve an applause but beyond that, there was hardly anything. He didn’t look convincing as a college student at all. He looked older!

Alia was mesmerising yet again in her portrayal of the loudmouthed Safeena. She looked the role! She was phenomenal. Even though the film didn’t have much of her, she nailed her part displaying adeptly her prowess as an actor! Alia take a bow! He dialogue delivery, her emotional outbursts, her silences were absolutely to the T! She looked pretty, innocent, cunning and conniving all at the same time.

Siddhanth Chaturvedi, the new guy in the block made his presence felt in the film and how. He was too good for his MC Sher. In some of the scenes where Ranveer and Siddhant shared the screen, the latter clearly overshadowed the former! Ranveer should be praised for allowing Siddhanth that screen space and not being insecure about his performance!

Kalki Koechlin as sky and Vijay Raaz as Murad’s (Ranveer’s) dad, Sheeba Chaddha as Hamida (Alia’s mother) were lovely and believable as usual.

As far as the writing is concerned, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti have done a swell job. Every little nuance was taken into consideration and elements were penned down meticulously. They literally brought Dharavi live on the screen and to achieve that is no mean feat. There was no music as such, the background score was also laced with rap lyrics and they were good. However, to the ears which are habituated to listen to the traditional Sa Re Ga Ma Pa songs, they might be a little off-putting. Moreover, in some places the juxtaposition of the lyrics and the circumstances didn’t match at all. The film is inspired by real life rappers Divine and Naezy and the duo have done a great job with the lyrics in the film. The cinematography by Jay Oza was an okay job done. Most of the night drone shots looked breezy and beautiful. Mumbai has been showcased in many different film both by national and international filmmakers, this film clearly cannot live up to the competition. There were just two scenes that showcased a proper rap battle and they were nicely done. Nothing phenomenal! All in all a good watchable film, especially because of Zoya’s direction and the performances.