Gully Boy is not a film, it's a masterpiece! Here's Why?

How often do films about the dreams of a man boast of a stand-out female character? Safeena in Gully Boy besides assuming predominance in Muraad’s journey also has an expedition of her own immaculately integrated into the narrative. 

Much against the recurrent tropes employed in Hindi Films, Muraad isn’t your typical aashiq (lover) vowing to die for his lady. One of the scenes has Safeena taunting him with a- Jaan nai dega tu mere liye (Won’t you kill yourself for me). In another scene, his father asks a shirtless Muraad to cover himself up as they had visitors in the house. But aren’t we accustomed to the ideology that modesty is an adjective only for woman and a man baring his chest and torso no threat to social order? Kudos to Zoya Akhtar for defying the normalization of naked men even if it was one small scene. Few minutes into the film and Ranveer Singh as Muraad sheds prevalent expectations of a formulaic hero, audiences are habituated to. 

Alia Bhatt as Safeena oscillates in and out of her headscarf defying patriarchy in unconventional ways of rebellion. Safeena assumes the characteristics of the “man” in the equation as she is aggressive, passionate and fierce. Other women who dare to provoke the stoutness of her relationship with Muraad are involuntary recipients of violence.  Contrary to most Indian women who seek out for financial stability in wedlock, Safeena firmly pursues her desire to be the protector and provider for Muraad. On one hand, as she craves for a successful career as a medical practitioner, on the other hand, she aspires for happily ever after with Muraad.  To all the women who fail to reconcile the simultaneous existence of a coveted career and a blissful marriage, Safeena’s unapologetic demeanor should act as a stimulating influence. Her act of giving away her I-pad to Murad becomes the modern-day equivalent for Indian women pledging their gold and silver for their husbands to start businesses. 

Even as her love for Murad occasionally dives into borderline obsession, you empathize with her agony. One of the scenes has her desires being disintegrated to the point where “Mujhe Lipstick lagana hai”(I want to apply lipstick) encapsulates her longing for emancipation. Murad therefore represents the only solace in her world circumscribed by bulky books on medicine and an undistinguished orthodox family. Drawing on the premise that comfort and creativity are an antithesis of each other, the film’s protagonists have various shifting focal points of conflicts through the course of the narrative. Yet channelizing their discomfort into craft both of them successfully interweave into the each other’s life through a romance that doesn’t have a commencement or a culmination point.  

Gully boy has you rooting, not just for its lead characters but every other fragment of the story which composes the bigger picture. Vijay Raaz as the patriarchal, entitled father has his own sets of vulnerabilities. His wife played by Amrita Subhash has insecurities which transcend beyond her perpetual state of victimhood. There’s already been much talk about Siddhant Chaturvedi who plays rapper MC Sher in the film and it was only after viewing what could be defined as the breakthrough performance of the year, all the hype made absolute sense. MC Sher and Murad are a modern-day rendition of Jai-Veeru and their electrifying chemistry will be etched for eternity.

Over the years there have been infrequent alterations of the quintessential trope in Hindi Films blurring the line of distinction between the protagonist and the hero. Yet, most stories involve that one crucial scene building up the audience’s anticipation leading to the emergence of the hero on the scene. Amongst everything else, what I loved the most about Gully boy was the pace at which the protagonist evolves into a hero.  Occasionally building on movements of redemption for Murad to implode as the avenger, it is not till the very end that you witness an external manifestation of his heroics. The fact that Murad takes his time, weaves the audience into his journey and even a scene where he randomly bursts out rapping while waiting in the car doesn’t draw peculiarity. Quite expectedly, the film defies your desires of a delightful climax yet the kind of optimism that it induces will have you telling your personal trial and tribulations- Apna Time aayega