Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy brought the growing hip-hop culture in India to the fore. While Ranveer Singh received glowing praise for his portrayal of Murad, a slum boy who uses rap as an outlet for his frustration, his mentor MC Sher played by Siddhant Chaturvedi came in for praise for his rapping skills.
Siddhant’s fan-base has grown substantially since the release of the film. And now, according to a daily, producer Ritesh Sidhwani and Zoya are planning a spin-off focused on MC Sher.
“The film is entirely based on Siddhant’s character and traces MC Sher’s journey to becoming a hero. This will also give the makers a chance to delve deeper into hip-hop culture and you can expect many engaging rap battles,” says a source.
Gully Boy was inspired by Naezy, aka Naved Sheikh, who shot to fame with the song Aafat.
On a show, Siddhant also opened up about his first meeting with Zoya. “It was at a party. I was dancing to a Govinda song, Tujhko Mirchi Lagi Toh Main Kya Karoon. I was full-on and she saw me. Then the DJ played Gallan Goodiyaan from Dil Dhadakne Do and I went up to her and danced with her. She was like, 'Hey, who are you?' And I said I was an actor on Inside Edge. She asked me to come and audition for Gully Boy,” he said.
Gully Boy, which also starred Alia Bhatt, crossed over Rs 100 crore at the box office in India and received glowing reviews from both critics and the audience.
On the other hand, Zoya Akhtar too reacted to the success of her last directorial Gully Boy by saying that while making a film, a filmmaker shouldn't look at the end result and should enjoy the process of filmmaking.
Zoya started 2019 on a positive note as both her film and digital project Made in Heaven received a good response from the audience.
Talking about her forthcoming projects, Zoya said, “It's been a good start. We are working on Made in Heaven season 2. We are also working on another show. We are working on two feature films with two other directors and we are working on Reema's (Kagti) and my next film. It's action-packed writing happening right now."
Talking about the success of Gully Boy, which featured Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in lead roles, Zoya said, “It feels good when it does well at the box office and when you have certain amount of critical appreciation. I feel you have to do something that you believe in and you have to do it as honestly and truthfully as you can and then, whatever happens, happens for the best. You can't look at the end result. You have to just enjoy the process.”
—With inputs from IANS
