Why should you watch Gully Boy

 

Gully Boy came in the Spring of 2019 and the film promos started airing in the winter of 2019 itself. The promos simply blew you off as one was not exposed to the kind of stuff being shown in those. There was rap and there was music and there was backdrop in which it was all being shown and then you started to think what is this? 

And then it starts working on you that Gully Boy (and Zoya and only Zoya's vision) is a visionary film and for an audience like India, bringing the context mainstream is worthy of a lot of accolades that Zoya deserves. In the filmography of Zoya, a film of this kind was completely off chance and it might be right or wrong to say; but could have been way out of her comfort zone. She was dabbling in a genre where purists often chided her for siding with the SoBo and their tastes. I would guess that is wrong to put it; as her directorial debut (Luck by Chance) was a completely different take and to me that still remains her best.

Gully Boy is an out and out script driven film with loads of good words for the technical team. The DoP, the editing team and a great screenplay to go with. A film which could have always fallen into a trap of being obvious and cliched. The protagonist may at the end of it win it eventually and as viewers we all know that. In addition, this being a near biopic of the actual rappers from Dharavi (Naezy and Divine) one always seems to go with the underdogs and believe that they will win or perhaps they can win. So, Gully Boy all along was trudging a difficult path. 

The plot and the way it builds is what works to the film's advantage. Early on, as viewers we are pushed into the cesspool of Murad's (a very nuanced Ranveer Singh) life and his friends, families and the ecosystem. A friends who is a car jacker, a father who is looking to marry a second time and with complete disregard to his existing family, a house which is virtually cramped and is almost choking you and the environment in which Murad lives. It is a Kafkaesque moment and reminds one of the miners in the 18th and 19th Century England who are working in extremely harsh conditions with no hope in sight. 

It is in this moment and time that Murad is able to steal some time to think and write about his frustrations and despair, his ambitions and inhibitions, his trauma and pain, his hopes and highs. Pity, these were limited both in screen time and the space allotted. One had wished to see Murad in those times more and more. But, yes those moments are the best part of the film. 

Gully Boy is not the usual liberated moment that one witnesses but is about being cramped in space and time. And how every single character knows they want out but they cannot. His car jacker friend Moeen (a brilliant Vijay Varma) or his college friend Salman (a cheeky Nakul Sahdev) are all stuck in their space and everybody is battling. But it is a lost battle or is it a lost battle? 

Gully Boy towers for some brilliant performances. The first has to be Siddhant Chaturvedi in a fantastic debut as MC Sher. I saw him first on Inside Edge as the shy Eastern UP spinner trying to make his mark in the IPL team. He looked convincing there. But in Gully Boy he simply owns it. Every time he is on the frame, everybody else pales including Ranveer Singh. Siddhant knows the frames and also is very spaced out in his performance. His moments with Murad aka Gully Boy and with Sky (my favorite Kalki Koechlin) are some of the best written ones. Also, when he pushes Murad to write and rap and simply prods him are amazing scene stealers. Gully Boy is Siddhant's film to start with. 

Alongside Siddhant there is Ranveer Singh (what a fine performance for such a difficult role to play and is so underplayed). His moments with his father (played by the terrific Vijay Raaz) are the best. He simply lets it flow with his expressions. The time when his father brings his second wife home, the time when Murad is simply sitting on the bed with his earplugs on, or the time when he (Murad's father) discovers that Murad is rapping and on YouTube with some videos. They are all wonderful scenes and it lets both Vijay Raaz and Ranveer Singh explore each other. Nobody is the winner, and that emerges from those confrontations. Both father and son are trapped in the midst of a warp and there is no way out.

Alia Bhat as Murad's love interest gets some cool lines to mouth and I thought her part could have been better written. At times it looks larger than life and is out of place. But, yes she remains a key pivot to Murad's character. Amrita Subhash as the wronged mother and her sad eyes says it all through the film. Vijay Maurya looked good after Tumhari Sullu. All these added to the main plot so well and it remains one of the films of Zoya that needs to be watched for Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ranveer Singh, Vijay Raaz and Vijay Verma in that order. 

Finally, the main anchors of the film who add so much weight. The rappers who feature in the film. They are all professionals and are active on the circuit. There are many many contributors to the actual Gully Boy album. But my favorite song remains, The Train Song by Midival Punditz, Karsh Kale and Raghu Dixit. The lyrics; a sampler:

I've Been Runnin' Half Way; Around The World; And I Found Myself At The Station One Day; I Was Headin' To The Heartland Of Desire; Exit To The Left And; I Saw A Girl Standing There...     

Gully Boy should be seen definitely and for the effort that the cast and crew bring in to the forefront. The main hero of the film still remains Dharavi and the people there, who are resilient and are willing to give it a fight! They know life gives them very few chances and you need to grab them, as it comes.

Gully Boy streams on Amazon! Go watch!