Zoya Akhtar’s precious gem Gully Boy released to both critical and commercial success earlier this year. Despite a fully formed man (almost 34-year-old Ranveer Singh) playing a 19-year-old boy coming of age, I can’t deny how much I loved the movie. And now we have a documentary about the man who was the inspiration behind the character Murad, called Gully Life – The Story of Divine.
The true underdog story about the life of a Mumbai-based rapper from the streets, his breakout song, Mere Gully Mein – and the global sensation that he has become along with his troupe, who go by the name ‘Gully Gang’, this is a film worth watching. Less than a decade ago, things were vastly different. Living with his grandmother in an eastern Mumbai suburb, Vivian Fernandes was a young boy with no knowledge of hip-hop. Watch the trailer.
Divine is one of the most sought-after musicians in India and a global superstar, who grew up in the bylanes of Sahar in the JB Nagar slums. And this documentary you get the first-person account of his incredible journey, including the murder he witnessed as a child is described in graphic detail or the memories of growing up with an abusive father. He even talks about his very short stint as an English rapper, something he disses himself, before he decided to rap in Hindi. You would also get to witness a few collaborators talking about the genius of Divine, including Nucleya, Zoya Akhtar and Ranveer Singh.
The 50-minute documentary is directed by Akshat Gupt, co-founder of Supari Studios, who makes his full-length documentary debut with Gully Life. Produced by Red Bull Media House Production in association with Gully Gang Entertainment & Supari Studios, the trailer was released by the Mumbai-based hip-hop artist Divine on 17 June 2019.
Gully Life premiered last night, on 1 July 2019 at 9 pm on the Discovery Network, across various channels in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu. Other than probable repeat telecasts, it will have a digital release on Red Bull TV on 15 July 2019, and Divine’s YouTube Channel on 17 July 2019.