Director Zoya Akhtar deserves applause for handling the hip-hop culture in Mumbai very sensitively. Ranveer Singh is in top form and is simply amazing in his role. Alia Bhatt equally delivers a fine performance in her relatively smaller role. Siddhant Chaturvedi is brilliant. Vijay Raaz as Ranveer Singh’s father is fabulous. All other artists too have given good performances. In fact, the characterization of each one is just perfect. The film has 18 tracks which are likely to appeal to the youth a lot. Lyrics of some of them are truly meaningful. The best one is “Apna Time Aayega”, which is already a chartbuster. The musicians have given superlative music and there’s a reason the film feels legit and that’s down to the fact that real rap artistes worked on this film. The rap battles shown in the film are superbly executed. Even though the rap music clicked, it is popular among the youth only. The majority of the audience (especially the youth) will enjoy this film as it easily connects to masses’ heart, mind and soul. The story is quite novel, screenplay is very good, cinematography is very impressive and dialogues throughout the film are clap worthy. The film has the right doses of entertainment, emotions and comedy. However, the pace slowdowns at few places and a 2-hour 35 minutes film seems to be a little lengthy. After a very long time, a film is made on a Muslim background which has lured the audience. The major portion of the film is shot in real locations of Dharavi’s slum which brings more authenticity to the film. The abrupt ending may not be fully appreciated and the climax may give a jolt to the viewers. Overall, ‘Gully Boy’ is a fun and entertaining film that will surely resonate with the youth and multiplex-frequenting urban audiences. Actually, it is very rare to watch a film that is perfect in almost every area!
Rating: 3.5/5
The film is unlikely to appeal universally (especially the elderly) but the positive word of mouth and repeat value will benefit the film. The advance booking was quite impressive, especially in metropolitan cities (Delhi/ Mumbai/Bangalore, etc). The first week is likely to be in the range of Rs. 80-100 Cr. and lifetime of about Rs. 150-200 Cr.