Gully Boy is an extraordinary film about a young Muslim student from the slums of Mumbai, who is a fan of hip-hop music and who keeps secret his dreams to make it big in the rap music scene. It is the kind of film that hooks you right from the first moments and just keeps growing on you as it goes on. The story, the setting, the cinematography, the music, the characters, and the narrative all contribute to the film's unusual feel in equal parts. The Dharavi slums of Mumbai where the film is set are shot beautifully - the congested streets, overcrowded with a diverse population of individuals, much to the point where poverty, and often sad pictures thereof, is presented as almost culturally exotic. It's amazing though that specifically these disheartening, seemingly impossible areas bring forth heartening messages of hope and opportunity where neither dire straits nor harsh realities can take them away.
The film's narrative style is fantastic - it IS music. Its youthful, modern feel is there all through and, even those not particularly fond of rap music, are very likely to enjoy the rhythm and the many songs which decorate the proceedings in ways one could not imagine. The lyrics of the songs, as well as the rap sequences as performed by the characters of the film, turn out to be symbolic and poetic and very true of the challenging conditions of the speakers in question. The cinematography is stupendous, the lighting and diverse shots make it quite a visual treat in many ways and, as mentioned above, even despite the setting of not the prettiest locales. Apart from Ranveer Singh as Murad, the film's leading actor who's an aspiring singer, and Safeena, his charming and headstrong girlfriend, every character is given a story, which is part of the entire picture of a society often immersed in its primitive ways, like, for one, his bigamous father or her conservative parents.
And the acting, as part of this entire picture, is spot on. Every member of the cast is natural to the hilt. Singh obviously leads the cast with an excellent performance. His portrayal of his character's reserved nature, insecurity, and then his inner self-belief in his ability to make it, is fantastic. In a smaller part, Alia Bhatt is wonderful as the free-spirited Sakeena, and she almost steals the thunder as she is highly relatable, convincing and above all enjoyable in how ambitious, determined and madly in love she is. Without taking anything away from the two leads, the supporting cast is full of stupendous character actors, led by a brilliant Amruta Subhash in a heartbreaking portrayal of Murad's mother. Vijay Raaz, as her abusive and adulterous husband, is superb, and so is Vijay Varma, as the troublemaker Moeen. Siddhant Chaturvedi is a nice find as he fits the role and does exceedingly although he does look over-confident at points, and Kalki is given a thankless role though she's good.
Gully Boy is a rare combination of top-notch acting, story, music, and soul. It works as both a musical, a sports film of sorts, and a human drama. In the end, it's just very inspiring. For director Zoya Akhtar, this is clearly the best film of her career, as no film of hers, even the most celebrated and acclaimed (and some, overrated), reached the merit and beauty of this one. This film has clearly a lot invested into, and not just money but hard work in studying and preparing, because it takes us into the world as those who too often are deemed transparent, and it makes them matter. Many years ago, a movement of Indian films known as parallel cinema was producing films which often sought to give voice to the voiceless, namely people from the slums. It's nice seeing that their stories have crossed the boundaries of what was called "offbeat cinema" and is now given importance by mainstream filmmakers. That mass audiences find their stories valuable is not surprising, but Indian cinema is maturing, and it's great.
