Gully Boy trailer: Rapper Ranveer Singh steals the show

Alia Bhatt plays Ranveer’s love interest who supports him throughout. It looks like she is studying to be a doctor. Kalki Koechlin also plays a significant role in the film.

On being asked about her character in the film, Alia said, “For the first time, I have cried less on screen. When you watch the film, you will see me. I can’t speak much about my character. But I say ‘dhoptaungi’, if you know what it means. I play a student in this film. I think it has been one of my best experiences working with Zoya and Excel. It is such a fantastic team. They are so on point with everything. The film is so raw.”

Watch the trailer of Gully Boy:

Zoya Akhtar is known for making movies that rely on picturesque locations where characters deal with first world problems. While the director made her debut with Luck By Chance, the trailer of Gully Boy shows that Zoya does not need to rely on European locations to make her movies work.

Directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, Gully Boy is said to be inspired by the life of rappers, Vivian Fernandes aka Divine and Naved Shaikh aka Naezy. Also, it chronicles the lives of Mumbai’s independent hip-hop artistes.

Talking about the film at the trailer launch event, Zoya said, “This is not a biopic of Divine and Naezy. It is a fictional story. It is inspired by Naezy and Divine. They have helped me a lot by showing me their life. I have made a story that has inspired me.”

In an exclusive chat with Indian Express, Divine aka Vivian shared how he was approached by Zoya at one of his shows. “Zoya introduced herself and asked me for my number. She wanted to meet and chat. When Zoya said she wanted to write a story about me and other Mumbai rappers, I couldn’t quite picture it,” he said. Divine added that the filmmaker was determined to know about his hood in Mumbai 59, Gully Gang and the kids from the other side of the tracks.

Before the trailer, a trailer announcement video, featuring Ranveer as a rapper from Mumbai, left cinephiles thrilled. As the 33-year-old rapped “Asli Hip Hop”, the excitement around this much-awaited film increased manifold. The posters featuring Alia and Ranveer in their simple avatars also created the right amount of buzz around it.

Before releasing in theaters on February 14, Gully Boy will premiere at the upcoming 69th Berlin Film Festival. The festival will run from February 7 to 17 this year.