Gully Boy review: International media is loving the gully rap film

A still from Gully Boy

Gully Boy, a film on India's street rap culture, has found a large audience beyond the country too. Starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, the film is inspired by the gully rappers of Mumbai, particularly rappers Naezy and Divine. So it's not only India that is looking forward to this path-breaking film, but also international audiences who are keen to see what Gully Boy has in store for them. The film premiered at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and was received to thunderous applause and a packed house.

Here's what Smriti Kiran, Creative Director, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, who was present at the screening, tweeted, "Packed house with the loudest, most passionate cheers. Berlinale gets a taste of the crazy Indian film fan at the world premiere of Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy."

Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival, a regular at the Berlinale, tweeted the following:

Jay Weissberg of Variety magazine in his review of Gully Boy wrote, "...one of the pleasures of Gully Boy is in recognizing how the writers take certain formulas - such as the mismatched posse that so often surrounds Bollywood heroes, the exaggerated jealousies of girlfriends, the sacred mother figure, and so on - and give them fresh life via characters effortlessly exuding charisma."

Michelle Rodriguez of The Fast and the Furious franchise tweeted a review of Gully Boy and wrote, "I remember when rap broke out of New York & made it to the Caribbean, my Brooklynn born bros would breakdance on cardboard boxes in Dominican Republic, America had no clue how impactful this platform was going to be for the underdog worldwide. Beautiful."

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Zoya Akhtar (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) directs with flair and passion and, aided by explosive performances from a right-on cast, triumphs over the familiarity of the star-is-born storyline. Her main asset is Ranveer Singh, who broke into Bollywood with the rom-com Band Baajat Baaraat and who here shows a pleasingly full emotional range that extends to drama and hip-hop."

Berlinale officials, themselves, tweeted an appreciative message for Ranveer Singh:

All in all, foreign media seems to be digging the film. Gully Boy releases on February 14 across India, so put the date down in your calendar!