The Bollywood movie, Gully Boy, deals with a story based on the life of street rappers in Mumbai. Also starring in Gully Boy, one of the films that came out in 2019 and made a lot of noise, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, one of the famous stars of the Indian cinema industry, take place. At the Filmfare Awards, Gully Boy has been the most awarded movie ever. The film, including Alia and Ranveer, won 13 awards.The film Gully Boy looks at the path to the journey of a talented Muslim teenager to become a famed rap artist who is a dream despite all the impossibilities. In order to understand the present India, the story, the characters and the dialogues are very interesting. Sometimes movies cease to be just a product of the entertainment industry and can whisper a lot to those who want to see.
Let’s examine the characters processed through the leading roles to hear what this movie whispers. The main actor of the movie, Murad, is a character whose storms break but cannot reflect it on the outside. Because his family, especially his father, wants him to adapt to the society he is in, especially as a Muslim. Unlike his parents, who expect to find a good job and start his own family after his undergraduate education ends, Murad is a young person who listens to rap and even writes rap lyrics. But he’s too shy to get this gem out, until he meets MC Sher who encourages and supports it. MC Sher told him, “All you need is your own truth and the fire in it. You don’t need anything to make your dreams come true. “Just focus on your own truth.” These golden words allow the fire inside Murad to be poured into words. Right here, the fact of deep poverty in Murad’s life and the suffering of his mother stand out. Also, because of these “pains”, Murad has to get involved in jobs that go beyond the norms of society. However, as he told his father, he takes steps to “change the truth so that he can follow his dreams, rather than change his dreams so that he can follow his realities.” and starts to clip and publish on rap songs he wrote with the support of his friends. Thus, change begins for Murad. At the same time, this is a reflection of the revolt against the social value, norms and impositions it is in.
The character of Safeena, the lead actress of the movie, is expected to be a girl that fits the values of the society she belongs to, just like Murad. Although Safeena is studying medicine, the country’s favorite department for girls, is being suppressed by the family and society so that it does not go beyond the expectations of society. On the one hand, while drawing the image of a dignified Muslim girl with her headscarf, working continuously and taking care of the patients with her father; on the other hand, a type emerges that does not wear a headscarf, laughs, has fun with friends, and confronts everyone, which is the “main” character of Safeena. And the main reason for Safeena’s temper attacks seen throughout the film is the stress he experiences between his world and the norms of society. Again, after a crisis of anger due to Murad, whom he loved because he allowed him to be, the “violent” reaction to Safeena from her family after she expressed the world she wanted to live summed up the dilemma that Safeena was in:
“I feel like I’m trapped between school, clinic and home. I want to go out, have fun with my friends, watch movies, go to a concert, apply lipstick. I want to talk to men, but not secretly, while you are there. I want to call them home like normal people. Suhani’s family accepts her as she is.”
The movie actually emphasizes many points, including politics, and the common point of them all is the same: CHANGE! Gully Boy fully addresses the uprising of educated young people to the current system. In particular, the differences in perception revealed by the generational difference that young people experience with their families further emphasizes this. While families have established a world where they can live in a “peaceful” way unobtrusively, where they live by obeying the wishes of the society and destroy their individual desires, young people want to get out of this walled world. Whatever the group is, what young people want is change in every sense and area and to be accepted as they are![i] In the film, the rising of the young people who met the world and who wanted to benefit from the opportunities offered by these values, as integrated with the world values, was conveyed through rap. Obviously, both Gully Boy and Super 30 films portray the social-religious-political changes India has experienced over the past few decades. On the one hand, while historical films that swell national emotions are reflected on the screen, on the other hand, these films reflecting the screams of change in the country may be confusing. But these are precisely the realities of today’s India.
[i] Caste, religion, sect, status, economic situation etc. the desire to have equal opportunities and rights where all the hierarchy steps are reset. While MC Sher tells the story of meeting his European girlfriend to Murad, “Our people look at caste and sect. Their system is more beautiful. They look directly into their eyes.” also points to the discrimination made by the existing system, emphasizing the desired change.