Gully Boy

Gully Boy is a Bollywood musical-drama, written, produced and directed by Zoya Akhtar. The movie is based on the life of an underground rapper off streets, Gully Boy presents an emotional journey of a rapper from the slums of Dharavi. Inspired by true events, the film has created an immense buzz ever since its announcement. Gully Boy stars Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles. Carlos Catalan and Jay Oza has wielded the camera for Gully Boy. The film also stars Siddhant Chaturvedi and Kalki Koechlin in pivotal roles. Story In Detail Murad lives in a match-box size tenement with his dysfunctional family in Dharavi. When his abusive father brings home a second wife, his mother vents out her helplessness and frustration as she struggles to come to terms with the 'new' woman who is not much older than Murad.  The only ray of sunshine in Murad's life are his pals and his volatile girlfriend Safeena (Alia Bhatt) who doesn't shy away from admitting, 'Mere boyfriend se gulu gulu karegi toh dhoptuingi hi na usko' when it comes to keeping other girls away from pursuing her beau.  While Safeena may come across as a strong-headed personality, beneath her hijab, she's a girl who longs to do simple things like 'going out with her friends, talking to boys and wearing a lipstick' without any parental fear.  Meanwhile, Murad ocassionally takes to scribbling few lines when his angst and emotions need to be set free. Soon, his potential is discovered by a rapper Emcee Sher (Siddhant Chaturvedi) who advises him, "Tere andar ka lava phat ke bahar aane de." When Murad meekly expresses his doubt over his rapping in front of public, he tells him, "Agar duniya mein sab comfortable hote toh rap kaun karta?" As time passes by, Murad explores the 'cheer phad' rapper in him with the help of Sher and a Berkeley music student Sky (Kalki Koechlin) and becomes 'Gully Boy'. But like one of the songs in Gully Boy puts it up, 'Jeevan jeevan dariya dariya, ek jo paar karo doosra dariya mile.'  With Gully Boy, Zoya Akhtar has a winner in her hand. Her deft direction sails this boat smoothly and makes it an enjoyable ride with an universal appeal. The filmmaker who is known for her elite, urban stories dares to explore the other side this time and doesn't disappoint.  On the flip side, Gully Boy stretches a tad bit at places but that does no major harm to the film. Also, Murad's track with Sky doesn't add much flesh to the story.