# Gully Boy (2019) Review: Mumbai Rap Finds Its Voice

> Gully Boy is Zoya Akhtar's vivid Mumbai hip-hop drama, with Ranveer Singh as a young man from Dharavi who finds his voice in rap. It is long but electric.

Canonical: https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/gully-boy-2019-review/
Published: 2026-07-23
Last updated: 2026-09-24
Author: Kaiser Khan — Founder & Editor
Language: English
Review basis: direct-viewing
Spoilers: none
Rating: 4/5

## Verdict

Yes. It is a lively, well-acted underdog drama with real musical energy, best for viewers who can give it two and a half hours and forgive a familiar arc.

## Is Gully Boy worth watching?

**Yes. Gully Boy is one of the most vital Hindi films of its decade, a rags-to-rhymes drama that gets Mumbai's streets, class divides and underground rap scene onto the screen with rare conviction.** Ranveer Singh gives a restrained, surprising lead performance, and Zoya Akhtar directs with an eye for texture that keeps the familiar underdog story feeling alive. The reservations are its length and a story shape that rarely strays from the path you expect.

## What is Gully Boy about?

Murad ([Ranveer Singh](https://celluloidscore.com/stars/asia/india/ranveer-singh/)) is a college student from Dharavi, one of Mumbai's largest informal settlements, who fills notebooks with poems he is too shy to perform. His family is struggling, his father (Vijay Raaz) wants him to settle for a respectable job, and his long-time girlfriend Safeena ([Alia Bhatt](https://celluloidscore.com/stars/asia/india/alia-bhatt/)), a medical student from a stricter household, is fiercely protective of him and of the relationship they keep secret.

Everything shifts when Murad meets MC Sher (Siddhant Chaturvedi), a confident local rapper who hears something in his words and pushes him to turn them into verses. What follows is a story about finding a voice in a city that has decided who you are before you speak.

[Gully Boy](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/gully-boy-2019/) is an Indian film in Hindi, directed by Akhtar, and it runs 156 minutes. It was selected as India's entry for the Academy Awards.

## A Mumbai that feels lived in

Akhtar, best known for glossier stories about the well-off, turns her camera on the other side of Mumbai and does it without condescension. Dharavi is shown as crowded, noisy and tough, but also as a place of humour, friendship and ambition. The film's sharpest scenes are about class: Murad moving between his home and the wealthier parts of the city, noticing a gulf that others step across without thinking.

The music is woven into the storytelling rather than parked in song breaks. Rap battles, recording sessions and street performances drive the plot forward, and tracks such as "Apna Time Aayega" became anthems because they grow out of the character's anger and hope. The film was inspired by the real rise of Mumbai street rappers, and that grounding shows in its details.

## Ranveer Singh plays against type

Singh built his reputation on flamboyant, larger-than-life roles, and part of the pleasure here is watching him hold back. His Murad is watchful and quiet, a young man who has learned to keep his head down, and when he finally raps, the release feels earned. He also performs the rap verses himself, which helps sell the transformation.

Alia Bhatt nearly steals the film as Safeena, a sharp-tongued, fiercely loyal young woman whose possessiveness is played for comedy and edge in equal measure. Siddhant Chaturvedi's MC Sher, loose-limbed and generous, is a breakout turn, and Vijay Varma adds a darker energy as Murad's friend Moeen, whose petty crimes hint at the other options open to boys from the neighbourhood.

## Where the running time weighs

At over two and a half hours, Gully Boy is longer than its story needs. Subplots involving a music student (Kalki Koechlin) and Murad's family strife add texture but also slow the middle hour. And for all its specific detail, the arc of the underdog who discovers his talent and has to fight for it follows a well-worn path, with few genuine surprises about where it is heading. The film is richer in atmosphere than in plot.

## Who should watch Gully Boy?

It is an easy recommendation for fans of music dramas, anyone curious about India's hip-hop scene, and viewers who want a Hindi film that feels contemporary and grounded rather than escapist. Expect some strong language, a few scenes of violence and domestic conflict, and themes of poverty and family pressure; it suits teenagers and up. Set aside a full evening.

Good next picks:

- [Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/zindagi-na-milegi-dobara-2011/), Zoya Akhtar's breezier road-trip film, for a look at her lighter, more affluent side.
- [12th Fail](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/12th-fail-2023-review/), another story of a young man from a poor background fighting a system stacked against him.
- [Queen](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/queen-2013-review/), a Hindi crowd-pleaser in which a sheltered protagonist finds confidence on her own terms.

## The verdict

Gully Boy takes a well-worn underdog template and fills it with specific people, places and music, and that specificity makes all the difference. It runs long and rarely surprises, but Singh, Bhatt and Chaturvedi are terrific, and the film's energy is infectious.

**Rating: 4/5**

## Related title

- [Gully Boy (2019)](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/gully-boy-2019/)

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