Ranveer Singh ka time aagaya

For the last one week the song ‘Apne time Ayega’ has been buzzing all over India, particularly, among young generation listeners and the song itself sets the tone for the movie ‘Gully Boy’. The star-studded film which features energetic actor Ranveer and versatile actress Alia is a finest piece of craft sculpted by not only Zoya Akthar but her crew, whom she sticks onto from the time of ‘Zindigi Na Milega dobaara’, which reflects in the writing and it turns out to be a poetic tribute to Rap music, which present-day teen hangs on to.

It’s like enigmatic task for a director, who already reveals the story through trailer and music, to keep the audience glued to their seats and here comes Zoya’s x-factor that leaves audience spellbound with a enchanting storytelling that we might least expect in this genre. In this story of aspiring rapper Murad (Ranveer Singh) we come across ephemeral tussles with lots of emotional bondage which tells the story how Murad’s journey from gully to till he reaches cult rapper stature. It also realistically depicts a youth’s passion which runs in conflict with his poverty.

When we saw trailer it’s obvious that this is a quirky movie where no one is deliberately shown in limelight yet their performances embrace their roles, but Ranveer is completely shown in uncanny way with fragile family background and shattered relationship with his father; the lady version of Gully Boy is Safeena (Alia), from the very beginning we’ll witness the meaty character of her, despite being too possessive about her lover boy she convinces that with her witty dialogues and delivers a rivetting performance as a modern day girl.

She is bound to make her contemporaries envious. Above all, Alia and Ranveer fit into the shoes of perfect valentines, for the day. Murad’s friends played by Siddarth Chaturvedhi (MC Sher), Vijay Varma is so appealingly shot that we’ll never feel Ranveer is highlighted, and Ranveer’s family is also well portrayed with performances by Vijay Raaz and Amruta Subash (Father& Mother).

Though this musical boasts of 20-odd songs, we feel there’s some raw rap in it and poetic quatrains and couplets that Gully Boy sings are typical of Zoy style. The technicians raise the bar on the movie with their quality work in music, cinematography and writing, to make it an engaging fare. Also watch it for Zoya’s nuanced storytelling capabilities.

-Hari Sriram Bandi