Popular reviews

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★½ 2

  An old, white man spoke up at the Q&A. He hated rap music, but loved this movie. That is the power of this film, directed and co-written by a woman: Zoya Akhtar, about street kids rapping in India. We get the full flavor of what it's like to have pressure put on you by conservative parents who are trapped in a "very brutal class system"*. Gully Boy aka Murad (Ranveer Singh) is a Muslim, but he's a universal character. Almost as strong as Lion or Slumdog Millionaire, this is perhaps the feel-good movie of the year. Its length was scary to me at first, but it moves along quite nicely.

  The director explained that Nas came on to the project…

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  Review by Ivan Nagar ★★★½ 13

  In a recent interview after the film had released, Zoya described Gully Boy as a film that was bigger and going beyond just 'religion' or 'parental dissent'. This was strange to me, strange because in it's finest moments Gully Boy is very much about these little critiques, whether its about parental conservatism in India (which stems from religious orthodoxy) or the way in which religious traditions (in particular working class Muslim households in this case) feel so regressive in today's world. Her statement was also a direct contradiction with what was my biggest problem with the film, it was perhaps too 'small' in it's scope and didn't manage to be very entertaining or exciting.

  This is not to say I…

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  Review by Michael James ★★★★

  An entertaining and fresh musical drama from Zoya Akthar, that strikes the right chord with its fascinating characters and world setting, despite of its familiar underdog structure. The rap musical portions are outstanding, with fantastic rhythms and impactful lyrics. The subtexts on class, social and cultural divides are seamlessly added into the narrative. Ranveer Singh kills the show as Murad and is well supported with rock solid performances from Alia Bhatt and Siddhant Chaturvedi. It’s thoroughly enjoyable and a must watch for rap lovers.

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  Review by prince shah ★★★★½ 3

  proud and blessed to have worked on this movie.
  bhot hard.

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  Review by Ken B ★★★★

  Films to watch - Random generator

  Raveener Singh plays Murad Ahmed aka Gully Boy. A young man living in Mumbai who loves hip hop but also has a propensity for rapping. I should say that I am a hip hop fan, although I can't claim to be an authority on the scene in India. I am currently educating myself on this a little. There is an amusing scene early on where some British and American tourists are having a rather obscene tour of the slums of Mumbai when they arrive at Murad's home. Murad notices that one American gentleman is wearing a Nas t-shirt. He compliments the man, who responds in a patronising way. Murad then proceeds to school the…

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  Review by sree ★★★★ 2

  zoya akthar is the loml i think

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  Review by ani ★★★

  lol never thought id live to see the day an uncensored a$ap rocky song plays in a ranveer singh movie

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  Review by Varghese ★★★★½

  The Hindi film of the year.

  I just reached back home and I am still processing what i just witnessed verbally as well as visually. It's been a while since I have enjoyed a film to this extent. The star of the show for me was the charged up music & lyrics contributed by 54 rappers for the 18 songs. It felt like I was caught in an avalanche of quick fire retorts.

  The man of the hour aka Ranveer Singh gives his best performance ever. He simmers and simmers and finally explodes like a volcano. This and Lootera are the kind of roles I want to see him tackle once in a while.

  Top notch cast fires on all cylinders.…

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  Review by Sanjeet Singh ★★★★ 7

  Zoya Akhtar in one of her old interviews said that she considers Sholay, a film on which her father was a co-writer, a complete film and one of her favourites. She also mentioned it had everything, dance, music, drama, romance, comedy, action. I think Gully Boy is her Sholay, she's just assembled it in a very contemporary fashion.

  Zoya Akhtar is a fantastic director, one who's going to be talked about when we'd talk about the best Hindi cinema had to offer. One of the few themes that she carries into this film from her previous works, is the relationship of her protagonist with his parents. This quite fits in with the narrative that of an underdog performer. She quite…

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  Review by Nafees Ahmed ★★½

  Gully boy is a missed opportunity. The subtlety and restrained storytelling in the first act is completely lost in the last act, driving the film in a complete filmy style to please the masses. That is not a problem if you do not introduce half baked characters for the heck of it.

  Singularly focused narrative of on a road to rapper platform is often muddled with clunky subplots used, often, as a catalyst but felt manipulative and disjointed at times.

  Gully Boy is a mere observational film than the experiential one, as it doesn't probe deep into the psychological conundrum during the journey of Murad. The film needs a better editor and a great second half.

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  Review by Herb Gallow ★★★½

  Careful with this one. If you hit it in the wrong mood it's going to come across as saccharine and by-the-numbers, especially given the close resemblance to 8 Mile. There's a lot of struggling against impossible odds and talk about how you should follow your dreams and other such things that can numb the senses. The script is the weakest part of the film and threatens to hold it back, though I can't tell if part of that is the fault of whoever is translating the subtitles. If you find yourself receptive, however, Zoya Akhtar has put together a pretty decent hip hop film.

  One of the marks of a good director is perceived runtime vs. actual runtime. I ought…

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  Review by Mad ★★★★ 5

  Easily Zoya Akhtar's most accomplished work. A perfectly balanced mix of great material and her powerful visual storytelling, using every aspect of the experience to convey the raw anger of these characters (brought to life perfectly by the cast, particular standouts being of course Ranveer, Alia, and Siddhant) built over years and years of class-caste divide and family trauma. Took me way too long to get to this one but I'm glad I finally watched it coz it rules. Very cathartic and powerful.