Its
truly strenuous to imagine that after writing such cinematic gems as Luck By Chance,
Talash, Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara and the more recent Dil Dhadakne Do, Zoya
Akhtar will take on the mammoth challenge to introduce the uncharted world of Indian
Hip Hop and street rappers in Mumbai via Gully Boy. The immediate outcome is
the romantic musical drama, that is Gully Boy. Loosely based on the Mumbai planted
MCs Divine and Naezy, Gully Boy dwells deep into the lives of one of many slums
in Mumbai, Dharavi, where day in and out dreams are shattered by reality. Murad
Ahmed (Ranveer Singh), is one amongst those unprivileged Slumdog and son to a
driver Aftab Ahmed (Vijay Raaz) who has worked hard to educate Murad to somehow
affix a white-collar job. It was his hush-hush passion for hip-hop that kept
him going. Murad’s life quickly spurs as he stumbles upon a budding rapper MC
Sher/Shrikant (Siddhant Chaturvedi), who promptly takes him under his wing and
introduces him to the world of street rap, hip-hop and back alley rap battles. Gully
Boy is a coming-of-age story of self-discovery and pursuit of passion instead of
reality. However, like any other movie Gully Boy suffers from a minor glitch which
is pure knit picking on my behalf. So, these are what I liked and disliked about
Gully Boy.
The
Good: The lead cast; we cannot help
ourselves but be mesmerized by the sheer brilliance of Ranveer Singh and how he
seamlessly slips into the different roles he is offered, be it the ruthless
Khilji in Padmavat or the brutally immoral Sangram Bhalerao in Simmba or the
charming and honest budding street rapper Murad Ahmed in Gully Boy. Ranveer
almost effortlessly portrays Murad’s helplessness and sheer honesty to his
passion towards hip-hop. Alia Bhatt plays Murad’s fiercely possessive girl
friend Safeena Firduasi, who comes from a conservative Muslim family and goes
leaps and bounds to support Murad in fulfilling his ambitions. The infectious
chemistry between the two leads and the subtle moments they share truly stand
out in the movie. The supporting cast;
powerful performances by the supporting cast namely debutant Siddhant
Chaturvedi as MC Sher, who sort of mentors Murad’s journey from the underdog to
the confident Gully Boy deserves special mention. Vijay Raaz, as Murad’s unapologetically
sadistic father portrays the brutal byproduct of the relentless reality, that
is Aftab Ahmed with outright perfection. Kalki Koechlin (Shweta/Sky) as the
mysterious Sky, comes as a breath of fresh air, and somehow vanishes in the
script, adding her fair share to the movie. Special mention goes to both Amruta
Subhash (Razia Ahmed) and Sheeba Chaddha (Hamida Firdausi) for their depiction
of Murad and Safeena’s mothers with different views towards life. The music; Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy along
with all the different Hip-Hop artists have created magic, to couple that with
Javed Akhtar’s intense lyrics urge the mob to move to every beat, with tracks
like ‘Apna time ayega’ already becoming the youth anthem. The cinematography; Jay Oza has done exceptionally well with the
camera, specially the drone shots of the slums in the vicinity of the
monumental constructions depicting the coexistence of both the worlds.
The
Bad: The only downside to the movie was the length. At a wooping 2hrs 36mins
the movie seemed a bit too stretched at times, though it was a necessary evil
to establish each and every character which sound only justified.
Final
Verdict: Gully Boy is undoubtedly one of the strongest of Zoya Akhtar’s brainchild,
to couple that with dazzling performances from both the lead and supporting ensemble
casts, splendid music and breathtaking cinematography, makes it a must watch
for both avid and casual movie goers.
Good job.
ReplyDelete