Gully Boy – Underdog Rapper (Hip-Hop) Movie

Gully Boy is the story of an underdog Rapper who makes it in life in the hip-hop arena in spite of all the odds.

The central theme of the story is that every dog has a day to make it big. Keep on dreaming and work hard to make your dream your reality. The lyrics of the Title Song reads: “Apna Time Ayega” which means “My Time will come.” “The lava of my words will break all my shackles. Whatever you have sown you will eat the same. My dream will even be feared by fear. My Dream is now alive, and no one can bury it.”

Movie Name	Gully Boy
Release Date	February 14, 2019
Released in Theaters	US, India, and other countries
Key Cast	Ranveer Singh as Murad Alia Bhatt as Safeena Siddhant Chaturvedi  as Sher Kalki Koechlin as Sky Vijay Raaz as Shakir
Director	Zoya Akhtar
Runtime	148 Minutes (2 Hours 28 Minutes)
Production Companies	Excel Entertainment Tiger Baby Productions
Genre	Music, Drama
My Rating	4 Stars / 5 Stars

Murad (Ranveer Singh) is a hard-working college boy living in the slums of Dharavi, Mumbai, with all the struggles and stressful life of slum dwellers. But he has hopes and dreams of making big in life. He has a lot of interest in hip-hop and follows the top hip-hop musicians from the United States. He likes to write rap lyrics but does not have the proper rendition skills.

He is in a relationship with his childhood girlfriend Safeena (Alia Bhatt) who is a medical student. Her father is a doctor but lives in the same slum. Safeena is a brilliant student with a care-free attitude but is stifled by the Islamic tradition and the shackles it puts on women. She protests the same with her parents and complains that she will not have to lie and do things behind their back if they trust her and give the freedom she needs to live the life the way she likes.

Zoya Akhtar, a Muslim woman, raises some of the key challenges and problems facing the Muslim communities – Polygamy and Women’s Abuse and Suppression.

She highlights the challenges and problems faced in a polygamous relationship when Murad’s father marries another woman and bring her to live with his wife in the same house. His wife protests and asks him if she can also bring another husband. But there are no answers, just more abuse.

The other point raised by Zoya is the indifferent attitudes of Muslim men towards women’s abuse. She portrays that irrespective of education levels and financial position, the position of Muslim men is indifference and apathy to the plight of woman’s struggles. Safeena father, a doctor and Murad’s uncle (Shakir’s first wife’s brother), a reasonably well to do businessman, in spite of their education and financial position, do not raise their voice against the oppression and suppression of women in their lives.

Another critical point highlighted by Zoya is the friendship between Murad, MC Sher, Sky, and Moeen. She brings the point that when financially well to do people identify real talent among the downtrodden; such collaboration can deliver the best in all of them. It was good to see that Sher in spite of being a well-known Rapper takes his loss with grace and encourages Murad without an iota of jealousy. It was good sportsmanship exemplified.

The friendship between Murad and Moeen is portrayed well. In spite of all the difference of opinions on a few moral values, friends can stick together and work for the best interest of one another. This kind of friendship is a good lesson for the leftist liberals who sacrifice friends and relationships at the altar for their egotistic ideologies. 

It has some outstanding Rap lyrics. The performances of all the actors are excellent. It is definitely worth watching once. At times the movie is slow, but it is not dragging. When a Muslim woman director dares to raise some social issues like polygamy, women oppression, women suppression, women’s abuse in the Muslim community, will the world (#womensmarch) stand with her to initiate a discussion on it or will it be pushed under the rug in the guise of Islamophobia? Only time will tell.

Affiliate Program Link Disclaimer:

Sukanth.com writes on topics I am passionate about and hope you’ll like them. I may see a share of revenue from any purchases made through any affiliate links used on my site. Keep coming back for more posts that you love.