Asli Hip-Hop has met Hindustan.
How this has happened, and how it has reverberated not only in India, but the entire globe, is a story of poetry, rhythm, pain, and achievement of autonomy over one’s fate. Gully Boy, is a story of a young man in the slums located in Mumbai, India, who uses his poetic talents in order to transcend the limitations of society, thereby forging a path to greatness and creating a better life for his family. The new film, starring Ranveer Singh, an eccentric, talented actor on his way to legendary status, as well as Alia Bhatt, a prodigious actor who has proven herself time and time again to have mastered a wide array of emotional depth, involves a host of interconnected themes, such as musicality, globalist culture, cultural norms and restrictions, as well as love and betrayal. It is a humble nod to the history of hip-hop itself, and throughout the film there are references to some of the greatest to ever be a part of the culture, including Nas, who executive produced the movie.
The movie focuses around Murad, a young man from a Muslim ghetto who is introduced to hip-hop at a time when everything seems to be going wrong in his life. He sees the immense income inequality present in his society, as he fills his father’s shoes as a driver for an opulent Indian family. This divide, one in which the rich have too much money to spend, and the poor have no money to eat, is a reality that forces the worst out of people, as members of the impoverished society are forced to steal and drug-deal in order to make ends meet. Murad, a natural poet, applies his poetic talents to the rhythms that he is beginning to hear, in order to make music that tells the public about life in the slums, enlightening the ignorant to the situations at hand, as well as making an anthem for those who understand the plight of his people. Murad’s own father is his biggest adversary, as a lifetime of poverty as taught Murad’s father the realities of fatalism, though Murad himself wishes to make his dreams a reality, rather than accepting the reality he has been placed within.
As Murad finds his way into the world of hip-hop, he loses part of himself along the way, but eventually finds himself again, and amidst a world of confusion he realizes who he truly was all along.
The film is directed by Zoya Akhtar, the daughter of Javed Akhtar, a renowned Indian poet. The blending of culture as well as the progression of Hindustani poetry into the world of hip-hop is clearly defined as Javed Akhtar, generally regarded as a classical poet, was able to lend a pen to the style of urban poetics present in Hip-Hop. Zoya Akhtar takes the viewer into many different spaces in Bombay that may not be privy to the indifferent eye, including underground hip-hop cyphers, as well as drug dens with child workers. Many different musical acts were included in the movie, two of the biggest being Divine and Naezy, some the most masterful rappers in the Asian diaspora.
Gully Boy is a story of the underdog, someone who wins against all odds despite societal limitations.
