My DNA is Simmba, not Gully Boy: Ranveer Singh

Hitting a fellowship that is not to be missed, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt sit down for an exclusive interview with indianexpress.com to talk about the world of Gully Boy.

Q. How did you react to the script?

Ranveer: I was in tears.

Alia: So it was me. You were also in tears? Zoya and I were both in tears. I do not know what was with us and our state of mind.

Ranveer: I'm sure it was the story at the level of the writing itself.

Alia: Yeah at the nascent level.

Q. So, Zoya Akhtar did not take the time to convince you to get on board?

Alia: No. In fact, for the first time, she said, "This is the first time I have the casting that I wanted the first time." She told Ranveer, he said yes, then I said yes .

Ranveer: It took Chance luckily about seven years to find a prominent man.

Alia: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara also took a lot of time to distribute.

Ranveer: Zindagi, I think was supposed to have Ranbir (Kapoor) and Imran (Khan).

Alia: Yeah. Kaafi Kuch Hogaya.

Ranveer: But with Gull Boy, it was boom!

Q. Did you know the world of underground rappers?

Alia: I had no idea. In fact, my sister Shaheen was the only one. I think it was Divine or Naezy, one of them we listened to when Shaheen said to me, "You know, Zoya met him and she wants to make a movie about the rappers." I thought, "Really? It's very interesting. My sister was very excited because many of her friends are pbadionate about music. So, they were very excited because we felt like giving back to this scene. And now I realize how huge this phenomenon is. The Indian rap scene awaits the release of this film. It's a big problem for them.

Ranveer: I've been listening to hip-hop since I was a kid. I've seen all the evolution of rap in India from Baba Sehgal and Devang Patel to now Divine, Naezy and Bantai. But I became really hooked when Zoya came to see me with this movie. She called me at her house and first showed me the video of "Mere Gully Mein" and my mind was blown away. It's so authentic. They are real guys from Bombay, street guys who hit Bambaia. It was full of flavor of the street. I became hooked instantly and did not listen anymore than that.

Q. How important was the world of Gully Boy to be as authentic as possible?

Alia: Of course, it is very important because it is our job to make sure that the world is good. But at first I panicked but Zo made things very simple. We have just done this three day workshop during which I learned the dialogues and the language. I learned to improvise in this language, I understood my character and I was like: "Oh! It's done. This is the fastest subject I have had to learn. Then on the set, it sank. It was like moving and it was amazing.

Ranveer: To be very honest, Zoya is a filmmaker whose homework is very strong. There are filmmakers who work so much themselves, gathering so much material to badimilate. They work so much for you that it's sometimes more than half of your work. Other times, you have trouble creating the character yourself. You have to do a lot of work yourself. But in this case, the material was there so that I could absorb it.

Q. Alia, why did you panic?

Alia: Because we (she and Zoya) were not in contact and we had to start shooting on January 15th or 16th. And I, January 3 or 4, I had not even started the workshop. In December, I panicked because I'm a good person who needs to understand what's going on. I did not understand what was happening because she was focusing on music. She did not stop telling me, "Do not worry, it'll be okay."

Q. I remember talking to Divine two years ago when he said that there was no one but Ranveer who could play that role. He said that you had hit so well that you could be a rapper.

Ranveer: Even I do not think anyone can play that role. (Laughs)

Alia: I totally agree.

Ranveer: It comes from a place in my heart that I will not let anyone play that role. It's me too much. It's too close to my heart.

Alia: No one else can do it that way. When I heard his first song, I said to my friends, "You know how an actor sings a song? You leave them a little margin and you say it's incredible. But that does not sound like a rapper of an actor, it's as if a rapper is hitting. I thought, "It's amazing!"

Ranveer: I remember that Lulu (Alia's nickname given by Ranveer) was in the studio and she asked me three times, "Are you?

Alia: I could not believe it! And it's so difficult because it's not like you hit without feeling. It's supposed to have a lot of feeling. And I felt it particularly when I came in and that he was doing the poem "Doori". All the lights in the room were out and Ranveer was sitting like that. He was recording the poem and it was then that I realized that it was not a film he had caught and sung about.

Ranveer: It's because there are two great loves in my life that are only one. Mumbai and its language. As an actor, I always thought that someday I would speak in my other native language, Bambaia. It's a language in itself and I've always thought that whenever I do it, it should be special because the city is very close to my heart. So there is Mumbai and its language and there is hip-hop. These two meet is like. It could only be me, for me too. I would die if someone else did it.

Q. How was the daily exercise of becoming this man? Have there been many sessions with Naezy and Divine?

Ranveer: Zoya, Atul Mongia and I participated in game workshops just to find the energy, the height of the character, because it is a very different mode of performance for me and it is not my fault. This is not my DNA. My DNA is Simmba. So it is something that I learned after becoming an actor and now I am able to adapt it. I first tackled it during Lootera, then Dil Dhadakne Do and now Gully Boy. So, just to find this different character, we organized gaming workshops.

And then to absorb the culture. It was about spending time with the boys. We had many workshops and we all contributed. Someone was writing lyrics, someone dropped verses. You must be there with the authentic people on whom you base your character and absorb everything you can. On the set, this process is invaluable. Zoya is so good that she's badured that there were three or four on the board every day, overseeing all that. There were no wrong notes. Things like this are really going very far. Now that I've seen the movie, it's like wow! The levels of authenticity of this film are on another level!

Q. Was it clear from the beginning that you would rap?

Ranveer: No Zoya was not sure. For me, it was a given. The minute she told it, it was a bit obvious to me because it's the nature of hip-hop, right? His nature is the expression. You write your thoughts and say them on a beat. In a movie like this, I could not rap myself. Zoya said, "We'll put you in a studio and if you're good enough then we'll take it." She and Ankur (Tewari), who supervised the music, were there. Divine was in the cabin, giving tips. It was like a screen test! They asked me to rape Naezy's version of Mere Gully Mein. I hit her and they said to me, "That's great! Let's do it!

Q. The majority is not very aware of the works of these underground rap stars, as they are always served as popular rap, which speaks repeatedly about alcohol, women, drugs and the party. As actors who have seen this world closely, do you find it sad that these rappers have not yet managed to make it a mainstream audience?

Alia: They do not have the platform anymore. And there are many, it is not limited to Naezy and Divine. These are big stars on YouTube and numerically. They are the ones who really lead the concerts. We organize concerts but there are many concerts around the country of which we are not aware. So, I have the feeling that they did not have the most obvious platform, which could well be happening through this movie.

Ranveer: It's a complicated answer, but I'll try. There are two types of music. One is popular music, hip-hop club and then there is underground music, street hip-hop. There is not really an integrated story. but the other is based on narration. The world we live in now, with all the noise and social media, this generation is truly thirsty for authenticity. That's why the biggest rapper in the world at the moment is Kendrick Lamar, whose rap is based on storytelling.

When I signed Gully Boy two years ago, I did not know this scene was going to explode that way. And now, Gully Boy is going to give him a mainstream platform. Like "Apna Time Aayega" is a legitimate hip-hop song and its number one in the charts and that is significant for this kind of music and this scene.

Q. Alia, Taapsee and Deepika have given some of the best movies of 2018, which have also been a commercial success. This year, so far, we have seen Manikarnika release and make people accept. This clearly shows that public bias towards hero-centered films is disappearing. How do you look at him?

Alia: To be honest, there's nothing wrong with your question, but I'd rather not answer a women's question, anything that is focused on women or a changing attitude towards women. . I think that the fact that this question is always asked means that there is still some kind of surprise or something like that: "Waah waah, wife of wali film hai!"

Ranveer: Yes, even I feel the same.

Alia: It's almost like there's a perception. Deepika (Padukone) and I discussed the perception that we are only interested in women-centered films. We do not take a position here. We just want strong characters. As male stars want strong roles in their films. It has nothing to do with who directs the film, in my opinion. Right now, we are waking up to good writing. For me, this is the big revelation of 2018. That's what it should be. Writers should have the greatest importance. Then come the directors and, in the end, the actors.

Q. I understand that we have to reach a stage where everything is standardized and that the films are not designed to be of the genre.

Ranveer: We must reach the stage where this question does not arise!

Q. What I also wanted to say is that 2018 showed that even the public is looking at great writing and not the genre that directs the film.

Ranveer: A good movie is a good movie. Queen and Raazi are the best films of the last decade. I think that for me, and I am also a Hindi public, this time is over. Now, give me a good story. The bad of the protagonist is unimportant.

Q. Ranveer, about last year, it is also interesting to note that the monopoly enjoyed by some stars has given way to a more open industry, with more talented and extremely successful young actors. How do you look at this?

Ranveer: Hero is the heroine. Koi bhi ho, tell me a good story. You are very right. Last year was a testimony. If it's a good story and it has entertainment value, your movie will be accepted. Regardless of the size of your movie or the number of people playing it, if it is unauthentic, it will be rejected. Basically, you can not fool the audience anymore. The public is very attached to authenticity and entertainment. You can not give them anything apart from that.