He teaches Murad to own his experience from the slums of Dharavi, to be proud of his background and use it in his art. Sher gushes over Murad’s poems, gives him a platform, and the confidence and courage to thrive on it. Related on The Swaddle: Study: Psychopathic Traits are Valued in Male Leaders, Condemned in Female Counterparts Here begins one of the most wonderful relationships of the movie, replete with the kind of support and encouragement that leaves little room for toxic masculinity.
Murad is absolutely taken by Sher’s genius, apparent and adorable in the way he fanboys over the fellow street rapper and hesitates to approach him.
Enter semi-successful rapper MC Sher, played beautifully by Siddhant Chaturvedi. Ranveer Singh’s Murad Ahmed, aka ‘Gully Boy,’ is an engineering student with a penchant for writing poems that he’s initially too shy to perform. What I did need to see, however - what was absolutely essential for me to experience - was Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s beautifully nuanced characters taking an axe to gender stereotypes and boasting a low tolerance for (most) toxic behavior. It is a tried (and tired) and true story of an oppressed artist, misunderstood by family and lacking in resources, overcoming all gruelling odds by sheer force of passion to go on to win a contest emblematic of a successful career. I didn’t need to watch Gully Boy to know the plot.