Rapper Divine: “Ranveer Singh the best choice for ‘Gully Boy'”
Following the completion of ‘Padmaavat’ (2018), Ranveer Singh has been working hard to transform into his next avatar for ‘Gully Boy’.
The film has been inspired by the real-life rapper Vivian Fernandes aka Divine, who came from the slums and shot to fame with his single ‘Mere Gully Mein’, which has received 3 million views on YouTube.
Reported on the Hindustan Times, the hip-hop artist shares how he knew from a very young age that he wanted to be an artist. “I discovered it at the age of 14, and by the time I reached college, it became my way of expressing my emotions, be it anger or happiness. I wrote my songs in English, but was thinking in Hindi, because I didn’t know that we could do hip-hop in Hindi! At that time, there was no such thing happening in India. The place where I come from, the only way you can get a break is through TV, or reality shows. You can’t do consistent music, as it takes time to learn it.”
In the interview, Fernandes talks about his upbringing and the support of his friends. “My mother works abroad, and my father has long been separated from the family, so I lived with my naani, and spent all my time with friends. They’ve always stuck with me, and would even stand behind me in my music videos, and that’s what made it possible for me to put out song videos.”
Fernandes who landed his first record deal with his song ‘Ye Mera Bombay’ in 2014, explains how he and his friends came to be known as the Gully boys and the excitement of Singh essaying his life on the big screen. “We were the first guys to spark the whole Hindi hip-hop scene, and there’s a rapper in every gully now, which is all I wanted. Our story will finally be on the big screen, and Ranveer Singh is the right guy to do it. I have hung out with him a couple of times, chilled out. He’s a great and talented guy, best choice for this film.”
Zoya Akthar who will be directing the film, discovered the Gully boys after attending one of their show. Fernandes who praised Akthar said, “If you’re writing a film about hip-hop, the most important thing is you should be a good writer. Zoya had come for one of our shows; that’s how she discovered us. Then she visited the place where we lived and I was more than happy to chat with her and Reema (Kagti, partner in script-writing) and tell them everything about the [hip-hop] scene. I don’t know the story, but we’re a part of the film and its music. We will be going on the sets, as the shooting has started. Hopefully, Gully Boy mein bhi aayega kuchh hamara!”
Filming has commenced for ‘Gully Boy’ and will also star Alia Bhatt and Kalki Koechlin. The release date has yet to be confirmed.
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