by Joseph Davis, Contributing Writer
If you were to ask me to list my favorite genres of music, rap and hip hop would probably not be some of the first ones out of my mouth. There are some songs I like, sure, but most songs I like are very similar to movies I like: They speak to me, open my eyes to something I didn’t expect, and bring something out of me. The reason I bring this up is because for this month’s Out of Market, after doing some deep searching for something that jumped out at me, I decided to watch the 2019 Hindi language film Gully Boy, based on the story of Indian street rappers DIVINE and Naezy, whom I had admittedly never heard of before. However, after seeing this film, I have a near overwhelming urge to seek out their music, as the movie spoke to me loudly and with conviction.
At its base, this film is a story of someone finding their path in the world. Our lead character, Murad (Ranveer Singh), is a business student, but early on you get the feeling that he doesn’t fit in with the direction his life is going. However, after a chance encounter, he begins to cultivate ideas for songs and stories, which changes his direction and opens him up to things most of us would only dare to dream of. Watching his character development is something I feel most everyone could understand: the feeling of being stuck, and trying to find a way out as we struggle against expectations and the world around us. This is amplified by the societal norms Murad finds himself in. His girlfriend and her family are of a class that looks down upon his, and his family pushes on him to go the direction he wants to go. For him, rap is a way out, something for him to speak his own mind and his own story, and that is downright beautiful.
Speaking of rap, the music and the way it is used in this film puts it on another level. Films can be, and are, elevated by the music that’s tied to them, and for this one, the music puts it upon a pedestal. Not only does it help build emotions as the film goes on, but it also directly ties to the story itself. Either as Murad feels trapped or when he vents his frustration, it builds and builds, and is even built by the film. It gives the movie character, and gives us a deeper view into Murad. As someone who is admittedly not a fan of the genre, I couldn’t help but feel the beat and the story placed in front of me, both as each song was playing, and as Murad builds himself from a student striving to get off the street to the powerhouse he’s dreamed of being.
The last thing I want to talk about is one specific scene from early in the film. We see a tour of people who happen to tour inside Murad’s family home. Murad compliments the shirt of one of the tourists who tries to explain to him what rap is. What happens in this scene is one of the big reasons why I wanted to work on the Out of Market series in the first place. It’s there to bring movies from other countries and cultures into a more open light, sure, but it’s also meant to open the viewer’s eyes, and to see how we’re far from the only people on the planet. It’s to disarm the viewer, lay out any misconceptions they may have, and to learn and to grow. This scene alone makes this movie absolutely worth the view, as it reminds the viewer that just because they come from a different place, doesn’t mean that someone is lesser or different, and that we can learn something from each other.
I would absolutely recommend this movie to people here in the States. It’s a beautiful story, it builds upon itself, and it opened my eyes to something I never expected it to. It’s the exact reason why I decided to do this series, because it reminds me of how even though we can be so close to one another, it feels as if there is a world of difference between us, and this film may just help close that gap a little bit more.
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