Gully Boy

How do you make a PG movie about the underground rap scene? You don't. The movie plays the tired schtick of resistance against the family but captures none of the transgressive nature of the music itself. Indian rappers deserved better. The grittiness comes off as fake (people behind this made the feature-length rich kid globetrotting advertisements like ZNMD). I would say that the movie was too long but if you cut the flab you are left with nada. P.S watch the short Bombay 70 instead.

A dull, rote film lacking in the goofiness that plagues many Indian films and instead opts for typical dramatic conventions of western films. Rife with overacting by Ranveer and 8 Mile rip-offs, the film gives little reason to be invested and I ended up feeling its run time pretty quickly. What's worse is that the film creates a mildly engaging love triangle that goes nowhere, ending on a predictable, boring upbeat note. The amount of praise this film gets is baffling to me.

Dull and surprisingly rote underdog tale combines eleements of SLUMDOG with 8 MILE but lacks the substance to sustain 2 1/2 hours, especially once the character arcs and motivations become clear before the end of the first act. Freewheeling freestyle rap sessions are arguably the highlights as they are lively, but even these become repetitive and redundant after a while. Glossy cinematography and generally likable performances save it from a catastrophic misfire.