Gully Boy

<p>Murad Ahmed, a final year college student, lives in the of . His abusive father, Aftab Shakir Ahmed, brings home a much younger second wife, much to the chagrin of the family. Murad nurtures a fascination for music. His longtime and overly possessive girlfriend Safeena Firdausi is training to be a surgeon and routinely meets him in secret. Forced to work part-time as a chauffeur after Aftab is injured, Murad starts to write; his lyrics are informed by the inequalities he observes while on the job. He befriends local rapper Shrikant “MC Sher” Bhosle, whom he sees performing in his college fest. MC Sher invites him to perform at underground shows and rap battles, eventually collaborating with him for a rap video on . student Shweta “Sky” Mehta, a record producer, reaches out to Murad and Sher after seeing the video, offering to collaborate on a new song. The accompanying video, which is shot in Dharavi, rapidly becomes popular. Murad and Sky grow close and eventually have sex, which Murad keeps from Safeena. When Safeena finds out, she reacts violently towards Sky by smashing a bottle of beer on her head. As a result, she is brought in by the police but is not arrested as Sky doesn’t press charges against her. Murad eventually breaks up with Safeena due to her possessive nature. As Aftab’s violence towards him, his brother, Suhail, and his mother, Razia, escalates, Murad decides to leave home with Razia and Suhail and work full-time for his maternal uncle Ateeq Khan. Later, when Sky expresses her romantic feelings for him, Murad declines her advances as he still loves Safeena and decides to reconcile with her. Murad and Sher enter a contest to open for at his Mumbai concert, and Murad advances to the finals after a successful rap battle. His confidence having improved from the appreciation he receives from fans, Murad finally stands up to Aftab and Ateeq when they belittle his passion. He later gets back together with Safeena. He goes on to win the contest and becomes one of India’s top rappers. The film ends with his friends, family and Safeena watching him happily as he begins his triumphant opening performance. Akhtar co-opted the story of two Mumbai based MCs, and , into a musical story portraying a struggle of an aspiring rapper and his surroundings that influence his journey. Principal photography of the film began on 10 February 2018 and it was wrapped up by April 2018. American rapper was an executive producer for the film. The 18-song soundtrack, which was released on all streaming platforms on 12 January 2019, involves an estimated 54 contributors, including rappers from across the country, deejays, music producers and beatboxers, such as , , Sez on the Beat, , Dub Sharma, , Ace, , MC Altaf, MC TodFod, 100RBH, Maharya, Noxious D, Viveick Rajagopalan, and others. As music supervisor, Ankur Tewari worked with the diverse group of artists in the studio, aiming to “bring the two worlds of and together”. A promotional single for the film, “NY Se Mumbai”, was released on 9 February 2019 and performed by DIVINE, Naezy and , along with American rapper . The track was produced by XD Pro Music, a based producer duo, and Ill Wayno. was confirmed to be releasing on 14 February 2019 by Alia Bhatt. The first look official poster of the film was released on 1 January 2019 and reconfirmed the release date to be 14 February 2019. Two new theatrical posters revealing looks of the lead actors of the film unveiled for the public on 2 January 2019. The film was selected in Berlinale Special section of . The film was screened on 9 February 2019 for its world premiere at the festival. It was released in India on 14 February 2019 on 3,350 screens and in overseas markets on 751 screens, with a worldwide count of 4,101 screens. Some writers speculated about similarities between and the -starring (2002). Writer in called it, though appreciating the movie as entertaining, after outlining what he considers the many similarities, “an engineered, Indianized version of “. Journalist Rachna Tyagi of was more harsh in her review, rating it 2.5/5 and calling it “a copycat Indian version of the film.” Denying the claims, director Zoya Akhtar responded “I get it (the comparison). I totally understand it, because that’s the reference point and that’s what they’ve seen so, that’s the immediate reference point and people here just love to do that.” The film was made available as on on 16 April 2019. acquired the All India distribution rights while and acquired the overseas distribution rights. Also acquired New Zealand distribution rights. received positive reviews, with praise for the storyline, direction, music, screenplay, and performances (particularly Singh, Chaturvedi, Varma and Bhatt). On the website , 96% of 23 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. of gave four stars out of five, writing, “Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt are devastatingly good in Zoya Akhtar’s ultimate anthem for the rebel”. of called it “the first great of 2019”, while of called it “Akhtar’s best film to date”. Rachit Gupta of also gave four stars. Sukanya Verma of also gave four stars. Livemint wrote, “It’s a hard-won transformation – hard – and it rings true”. commented, “By the end, I was wiping tears and cheering furiously not just for Murad, but for each one of these characters to find happiness”. of opined, “Gully Boy can be whole-heartedly commended for its craft, fascinating characters and Ranveer Singh. He absolutely kills the slow-burning rapper act. What’s more, he does with a lot of energy to spare.” Writing for , gave three stars out of five and found it to be “softer than expected, but hugely entertaining and beautifully made”. Ananya Bhattacharya of rated it three stars out of five. Mayur Sanap of also gave it three stars. felt the film dealt with Bollywood tropes. Manjusha Radhakrishnan of rated the film 4/5 and wrote, “When he breaks down, you break down with him and that’s one of the biggest victories of Gully Boy”. Among international reviewers, Lee Marshall of wrote, “Singh busts rhymes with the best of them in this energetic, entertaining film”. Peter Bradshaw of gave the film three stars of five. Deborah Young of commended Akhtar for her direction. Anita Iyer of rated the film four stars out of five. Jay Weissberg of wrote, “Zoya Akhtar’s most accomplished film to date is a mainstream rap musical about a Muslim guy from working-class Mumbai determined to break free from the strictures of expectation and class, all served up with generous helpings of deftly written hip-hop lyrics and a largely well-woven narrative” starring “Ranveer Singh in all his charms.” Raja Sen of gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, “Zoya Akhtar’s , an underdog story shining a light on India’s incipient hip-hop subculture, is the first great Hindi film of 2019 and a rousing celebration of spunk. The writing is enthralling, the texture fantastic, and this world is a revelation. Here are characters without room to breathe who express themselves breathlessly, through a style of music that has always belonged to the marginalised. Dissent finds a way — and a beat.” opened with collection of (equivalent to 240 million or US$2.9 million in 2023) on its first day. In two weeks of release, the film grossed (US$31.24 million). The film grossed (US$23.57 million) in India and (US$10.31 million) overseas, taking its worldwide gross to (US$33.82 million). The film won 13 awards at the , the most awards for a single film in a year, has broken the record of , which won 11 awards in . It also became the sixth film to win all four acting awards. The film also won 12 awards at and 9 awards in . Internationally, it won the for Best Asian Film at the 2019 in South Korea. The film was also to the for the , though it was not nominated. attracted controversy over its 13 wins at the . Several users and fans were extremely disappointed and made calls to boycott the awards, with #BoycottFilmfare trending on the micro-blogging site. Subsequently, when the went to the song “Apna Time Aayega” instead of the song ” ” from the 2019 period film , lyricist tweeted his disappointment at the decision, pledging not to attend future award ceremonies.</p>