Gully Boy Shines Internationally, Claims Biggest Cheers at Berlinale

Indo-Americans are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in North America and they are inclined to be extraordinarily keen consumers of movies. Over 1000 screens are showing Indian movies in 35 states in the U.S. alone, with the most active states being California, Texas and New Jersey. The availability of quality Indian films in the market continues to grow and also the number of theaters showing Indian movies is also expanding.

Gully Boy Reception

The recent hit, ‘Gully Boy’ featuring Ranveer Singh & Alia Bhat in the lead roles and helmed by Zoya Akhtar, received positive feedback from international publications, also its world’s premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival showed how well Indian movies are appreciated nowadays. The film has collected a whopping $4.8 million in its extended first weekend in cinemas abroad i.e, in Indian rupees, the figure amounts to Rs 34.31 crore. However, the USA-Canada markets have brought Gully Boy $2,345,486.

Coming up with the catchphrase ‘Aapna Time Aayega’, Gully Boy is co-produced by Ritesh Sidhwanu, Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar under the banners of Tiger Baby and Excel Entertainment and it also stars Vijay Raaz, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Kalki Koechlin. The movie was inspired by Mumbai rappers Divine and Naezy’s rags-to-riches story. The film tells the story of Murad, a young guy from the slums of Dharavi, and Safeena, his feisty girlfriend. The catchphrase has caught everyone’s attention and people can’t stop talking about it on internet. Here are some of the most popular reviews from world over.

International Celebrities Take on Gully Boy

Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director at the Toronto International Film Festival, tweeted, “Watched the GULLY BOY world premiere tonight in a packed house with @RanveerOfficial, @aliaa08 & @ZoyaAkhtarOff present. Biggest cheers I’ve heard in 20+ years at the Berlinale”.

Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw wrote, “Gully Boy runs on very traditional lines, and maybe comes too close to cliche, but is always engagingly dead set on entertainment.” He further continued, “The set piece and high point of the film is the uproarious video that Murad makes on the tough streets of Dharavi itself, which naturally goes viral and makes him a star”.

Earlier, celebrities like Rahul Bose and Fast & Furious actor Michelle Rodriguez tweeted appreciating the film. Michelle tweeted, “I remember when rap broke out of New York & made it to the Caribbean, my Brooklynn born bros would breakdance on cardboard boxes in Dominican Republic, America had no clue how impactful this platform was going to be for the underdog worldwide. Beautiful”.

Also, Variety’s Jay Weissberg, shares his thoughts, “One of the joys of ‘Gully Boy’ is reveling in the chemistry between Singh and Bhatt, perfectly paired: Her ironic smile meets his open-faced grin and the screen lights up. Sure Singh is about 10 years older than his character, but he has the boyish charm to pull off the role, and he raps like a pro to boot”.

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