‘Gully Boy’ First Review: Global critics give thumbs up to Ranveer-Alia starrer

Zoya Akhtar’s directorial ‘Gully Boy’, which stars Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, has finally been screened at Berlinale 2019 last night. The first review of ‘Gully Boy’ has turned out to be fantastic. Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt and Zoya Akhtar flew to Germany to attend the screening of ‘Gully Boy’ at Berlin International Film Festival last week.

The film ‘Gully Boy’, based on Mumbai’s street rapper, has been applauded by both audiences and critics alike after being premiered at Berlinale 2019 on February 9. A Canadian film critic Cameron Bailey, after watching the film,  wrote on Twitter that he heard the biggest cheers ever in more than 20 years at the Berlinale last night.

Chaitnya Prasad, the director general of DD news, wrote that the film is filled with emotions, strong characters and is superbly directed. He applauds the role played by Ranveer Singh and called Alia Bhatt a show stopper.

The film ‘Gully Boy’ has been in the news ever since its trailer was released for many reasons.

Here are ‘Gully Boy’s first review:

Anupama Chopra (Film Companion) on ‘Gully Boy’:

One way to view ‘Gully Boy’ is simply as a hugely entertaining “underdog with a dream” story, dotted on the margins with a disapproving father, an on/off love interest (Safeena, played by Alia Bhatt), a brand new socio-cultural milieu, and other must-haves of this sub-genre.

Ranveer Singh smoulders marvellously. He affects a slang that sounded ghetto enough to my non-Mumbai ears, and it’s terrific to see him demonstrate his more sophisticated acting side. We caught glimpses of this underplaying in Zoya’s Dil Dhadakne Do, where he was part of an ensemble, but here, he fills the film from the first frame to the last, and it’s a superb showreel for his range.

Alia plays her like a firecracker that won’t tell you when it’s going to go off. The scene where she says yes to a prospective match brings the house down.

Rajeev Masand on ‘Gully Boy’:

It has many layers, it’s coming of age, about understanding one’s expressions which in this case is through poetry and rap. It’s a beautiful love story and at some level, it’s a love letter to Mumbai. What powers these different narratives are essentially two things – the extraordinary performance from Ranveer Singh and the music and lyrics which has as much feeling as the story and performance.

Hollywood Reporter on ‘Gully Boy’:

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.

The music is high quality throughout, as confident and inventive as Jay Oza’s camera. Though most of the rappers are young men, it’s worth mentioning that the women characters stand out as strong and individual, from Murad’s furiously humiliated mom to wildcat med student Safeena and free spirit Sky, none of whom are in sexual denial, but none are sex objects for the camera, either.

Here is the first review of ‘Gully Boy’ from audiences:

Watched the world premier of #GullyBoy @berlinale . Intense movie, strong characters, emotional , focused direction, different narrative, superb direction, @RanveerOfficial intense role, gripping performance, @aliaa08 show stopper, #ZoyaAkhtar, brilliant, @ritesh_sid innovator,

— Chaitanya K Prasad (@Chatty111Prasad) February 10, 2019

#Gullyboy . @RanveerOfficial ‘s best performance till date. mind blowing music, some goosebumps rap battles. Alia and MC shekh were terrific. the editing could have been better. Overall a brilliant film. 4/5 stars. half extra star for ranveer. he just killed it.

— vicky- elfenomeno (@aamir_greatest) February 9, 2019

Spent more than 2 hours in a queue to get a ticket, walked for miles, almost got trampled and died amongst crazy fans at the red carpet, almost broke my only surviving pair of glasses, and waited for hours without eating. #GullyBoy was totally worth the hassle! 1/2

— T (@Angry_Exhausted) February 10, 2019

#GullyBoy is an excellent, excellent film! There is no better director than #ZoyaAkhtar at the moment. An absolute must watch. @RanveerOfficial @aliaa08 #Berlinale2019

— Aryaman Bhatnagar (@aryaman89) February 9, 2019

Also Read: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt take ‘Gully Boy’ international; View pics from Berlinale 2019

Omair Iqbal

Omair Iqbal is a journalist who loves to discover new things on the internet. He is an enthusiastic movie lover.
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