New Delhi:
Zoya Akhtar’s directorial venture Gully Boy, which recently had its world premier at the Berlin International Film Festival is one of the much-anticipated flicks of the year. The movie garnered mostly good reviews at the premier and now the director is expecting huge response from the audience, looking at the hype surrounding the Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt starrer. The story of Gully Boy revolves around an aspiring rapper who was raised in Mumbai’s slum and aspires to become the next big thing in the industry.
In an interview with PTI, Zoya said, “It was a crazy experience. It was an 1800-seater and the screen must have been 70-80 feet. I have never seen my film projected on such a large screen. From the beginning, they were clapping at entries, whistling through songs, gasping at things that upset them and completely silent in the serious moments. It was a very emotional moment and complete joy’’.
Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival shared on Twitter that he had never seen such a response for any movie at Berlinale in past two decades.
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“Watched the GULLY BOY world premiere tonight in a packed house with @RanveerOfficial, @aliaa08 & @ZoyaAkhtarOff present. Biggest cheers I’ve heard in 20+ years at the Berlinale”, he wrote alongside a picture of Ranveer meeting the audience post the premiere.
Ranveer even performed a power-packed rap on the title’s track ‘Apna Time Aayega’ at the screening. Zoya is known for her cult films including Luck By Chance, Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara and Dil Dhadkane Do.
“I knew that it will get certain attention because there is Ranveer and Alia in the film and my film is coming after three years. But I did not expect the buzz to be this much. We just hope we live up to it now,” she added.
Bankrolled by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, Gully Boy also features Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Vijay Raaz in significant roles and is slated to hit the theatres on February 14.
