Gully Boy - My First Bollywood Rant *No Spoilers*
Don’t even know what to say about this movie.
It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a Bollywood movie so much. Being Indian doesn’t mean that Bollywood is in our blood or any such crap. Also, no I don’t really give a s*** about Slumdog Millionaire. FYI that’s not a real Bollywood movie guys. It’s as real as Emma Stone playing a Hawaiian in Aloha (2015).
But all those people who enjoyed that so-called rags to riches story need to watch Gully Boy. Made by an Indian female director (Zoya Akthar), acted in by Indian actors, based on a real “rags to riches” story and with an Indian hip-hop/rap soundtrack that is amazing. I am not the best judge of hip-hop/rap since I don’t listen to it much. But I am surrounded by a few people who know quite a bit about it and they said the music was good too. So I don’t think it could be that bad, right?
Anyway, getting to the movie. Gully Boy is based on the real life stories of Indian street rappers Divine and Naezy of Mere Gully Mein fame.
They are played by Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ranveer Singh, respectively, in the movie.
The movie talks about their VERY humble beginnings in Dharavi, Mumbai. For those who don’t already know, Dharavi is home to the biggest slums in Asia.
It was also shot completely in this location amongst the people of the slums.
Which made for really interesting viewing. Other than the main cast, everyone was part of the regular crowd. Also, it gave a real feel to the story and it looked exactly like the original videos of the two rappers. These are rappers who started with no financial backing of any sort and just did the best they could with what they had. It also made sense since they were talking about the lives they came from. And you can definitely see the crowd enjoying it!
Okay may be not everyone...
Spot all the aunties jamming to the music!
And the really confused aunty lol!
And what else do I say. The movie is emotional, the lyrics are great, the rap battles are a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the character MC Sher. It was a strong debut performance by Siddhant Chaturvedi and I am very excited to see what this guy has in store for the future!
So so happy for Bollywood and this movie right now! And hopefully more Bollywood rants in the future.
