Tag Archives: Gully Boy

Best Bollywood Movies of 2019

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It’s time for my annual roundup of the year’s best Hindi films. I need to start with a caveat, in anticipation of any comments asking why certain movies didn’t make my list. Both my mother-in-law and father-in-law died in 2019, and I missed seeing a bunch of movies, especially those released in the first half of the year. I’m particularly disappointed to have missed Sonchiriya, since I’ve read many good things about it. It only ran in North American theaters for two weeks in March before heading to the streaming service Zee5 — which isn’t available in the United States. It’s not available for digital purchase or on DVD here either, so there’s no legal way for me to catch up on it. I’m sure there are other 2019 releases that I would have enjoyed that I also missed out on.

That said, 2019 was a fantastic year for action movie buffs like me, so let’s get to it!

What better place to start than with my favorite martial artist Vidyut Jammwal’s family-friendly eco-thriller Junglee. This is a rare Hindi film directed by an American: Chuck Russell, best known for the Jim Carrey hit, The Mask. While most Indian productions lean heavily on computer-generated effects to create animals on-screen, Russell had Jammwal and the rest of the cast interact with live elephants. It adds an element of awe that reinforces the story’s messages of conservation and respect for nature. And Jammwal’s excellent stunts are always a ton of fun.

India’s submission to the 92nd Academy Awards — Gully Boy — certainly deserved the honor, even if it failed to make the shortlist for the Oscars (not that any film can beat Parasite). Director Zoya Akhtar’s story of a young Muslim man voicing his generation’s frustrations through the medium of rap is timely and relevant, but also a great example of character creation and world-building.

Another of the action flicks on this year’s list is the thrill ride War. With world-class stunts and fight choreography — and a totally unexpected romantic undercurrent between characters played by Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff — War is a Bollywood action flick you could easily share with your non-Bollywood watching friends.

Speaking of Bollywood films for non-Bollywood watchers, the best of the year in that regard was the thriller Article 15. I recommended it to several acquaintances outside my Hindi-film circle, and all of them went to the theater to see it and really enjoyed it. Some readers have asked me if Bollywood movies can ever find crossover success in America, and to that end, Article 15 shows the value of having an English title and a plot that’s easy to describe. Oh, and it has to be a darned good movie as well, which Article 15 definitely is.

Given the theme of this year’s list, it’s no surprise that my favorite Hindi movie of 2019 is yet another action film, albeit an unconventional one. Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (“The Man Who Feels No Pain“) — which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 but didn’t play in Indian theaters until March, 2019, followed by a May Netflix release in the United States — features a hero raised on a diet of old martial arts movies who doesn’t have an ounce of cynicism. He believes that the good guys really can beat the bad guys. It’s a fun, goofy movie with a ton of heart, lots of flying kicks, and wonderful performances by newcomer Abhimanyu Dassani, Pataakha‘s Radhika Madan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Jimit Trivedi, and Gulshan Devaiah in my favorite double role of all time. Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota makes me incredibly happy.

Kathy’s Best Bollywood Movies of 2019

  1. Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes/stream on Netflix
  2. Article 15 — Stream on Netflix
  3. War — Buy at Amazon/stream on Prime
  4. Gully Boy — Stream on Prime
  5. Junglee — Buy at Amazon/stream on Hotstar

Previous Best Movies Lists

[Disclaimer: my Amazon and iTunes links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: April 15, 2019

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I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with a blockbuster new addition. Gully Boy is now available for streaming! It’s yet another terrific movie from filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, and a phenomenal example of character creation. Another 2019 release new to Prime is the Kannada film Yajamana.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with the addition of the 2018 Bengali film Rainbow Jelly, a bunch of older Hindi flicks — Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Jhankaar Beats, Mumbai Matinee, and Shabd — and the English movie Bollywood Calling, starring Om Puri. For everything else new on Netflix — Bollywood or not — check Instant Watcher.

Bollywood Box Office: April 12-14, 2019

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The North American box office was in a holding pattern during the weekend of April 12-14, 2019, in anticipation of the April 17 release of the guaranteed blockbuster Kalank. The only new Hindi film to open in North America on the 12th was The Tashkent Files, which made just $15,368 from 14 theaters ($1,098 average), according to Bollywood Hungama.

Other Bollywood titles fared little better over the sleepy weekend:

  • Romeo Akbar Walter: Week 2; $25,698 from 36 theaters; $714 average; $221,648 total
  • Kesari: Week 4; $19,650 from 16 theaters; $1,228 average; $1,862,580 total
  • Badla: Week 6; $8,286 from eight theaters; $1,036 average; $1,859,793 total
  • Gully Boy: Week 9; $422 from one theater; $5,414,386 total

Meanwhile, Andhadhun is burning up the Chinese box office to the tune of $30 million in two weeks! And I thought the $1.3 million it earned here in eleven weeks was impressive!

Source: Bollywood Hungama

Bollywood Box Office: March 29-31, 2019

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Brief North American Bollywood box office update for the weekend of March 29-31, 2019. Here’s why the weekend’s two new releases — Junglee and Notebook — won’t get a second week in many theaters:

  • Junglee: $45,221 from 79 theaters; $572 average
  • Notebook: $18,877 from 39 theaters; $484 average

My friend who works at my local theater said that, over the weekend, the staff had to tell quite a few disappointed customers that, no, they weren’t running a special engagement of the Ryan Gosling film The Notebook.

Other Bollywood movies still in North American theaters:

  • Kesari: Week 2; $323,533 from 154 theaters; $2,101 average; $1,600,643 total
  • Badla: Week 4; $75,736 from 58 theaters; $1,306 average; $1,861,000 total
  • Gully Boy: Week 7; $9,587 from 12 theaters; $799 average; $5,407,188 total
  • Luka Chuppi: Week 5; $2,802 from seven theaters; $400 average; $1,014,967 total

Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo

Bollywood Box Office: March 22-24, 2019

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From March 22-24, 2019, Akshay Kumar’s Kesari took in $836,065 from 178 North American theaters ($4,697 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. Adding in the $88,308 it earned on its opening day (March 21) brings Kesari‘s four-day total to $924,373.

It took Luka Chuppi four weekends, but the romantic comedy finally crossed the $1 million mark. The $18,920 it earned from 26 theaters over the weekend ($728 average) brought its total to $1,005,283.

With Kesari having passed the $1 million mark itself during the course of the week, Luka Chuppi‘s achievement means that eight of the twelve Hindi movies to release in North America in 2019 have earned at least $1 million. That’s kind of mind-boggling. I expect that ratio to even out a bit with the upcoming weekend’s releases — Junglee and Notebook — likely to fall well short $1 million (though I’m crossing my fingers for Junglee‘s success).

Other Hindi movies still showing in North American theaters:

  • Badla: Week 3; $237,547 from 97 theaters; $2,449 average; $1,712,624 total
  • Gully Boy: Week 6; $49,473 from 40 theaters; $1,237 average; $5,381,387 total
  • Total Dhamaal: Week 5; $4,049 from one theater*; $2,167,632 total
  • Uri: Week 11; $904 from three theaters; $301 average; $4,185,825 total

*Bollywood Hungama’s report only includes Total Dhamaal‘s Canada earnings for the weekend, not its US earnings. The film’s total is from Box Office Mojo.

Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo

Opening March 29: Junglee and Notebook

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Two new Hindi films hit Chicago area theaters on March 29, 2019. Martial artist Vidyut Jammwal plays a veterinarian fighting elephant poachers in the action movie Junglee, directed by American filmmaker Chuck Russell, who previously directed Dwayne Johnson in The Scorpion King and Jim Carrey in The Mask.

Junglee opens Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 1 hr. 55 min.

Also new this weekend is the Salman Khan Films production Notebook, starring newcomers Pranutan Bahl and Zaheer Iqbal.

Notebook opens Friday at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and Cantera 17. It has a listed runtime of 1 hr. 52 min.

Opening in wide release across Chicagoland this weekend is Hotel Mumbai, an English-language fictional retelling of the 26/11 terror attacks starring Dev Patel, Anupam Kher, and Armie Hammer. It sounds problematic.

Kesari carries over at the River East 21, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, AMC Niles 12 in Niles, AMC Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Badla gets a fourth week at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, and AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville.

MovieMax holds over Luka Chuppi, the South Barrington carries over Total Dhamaal, and the Woodridge 18 hangs on to Gully Boy.

Other Indian movies showing in Chicago area theaters (all films have English subtitles):

Opening March 21: Kesari

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In time for Holi, Akshay Kumar’s historical war drama Kesari opens in Chicago area theaters on Thursday, March 21, 2019.

Kesari opens Thursday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge. It expands to the AMC Niles 12 in Niles on Friday. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 30 min.

On Friday, March 22, Badla starts its third week at the River East 21, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, and Naperville 16.

Gully Boy gets a sixth week at the South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, and Woodridge 18.

Luka Chuppi holds over for a fourth week at MovieMax and the South Barrington 24, while Total Dhamaal gets a fifth week at the South Barrington 24 and Cantera 17.

In news of movies that aren’t playing in Chicago right now, I’m super bummed that we didn’t get Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (“The Man Who Feels No Pain“). I also expected The Wedding Guest to expand out from Chicago into suburban theaters, but that didn’t happen either. In better news, it looks like Dev Patel & Anupam Kher’s Hotel Mumbai will open wide across the Chicago area next weekend, so that’s cool.

Other Indian movies showing in Chicago area theaters (all films have English subtitles unless indicated):

Bollywood Box Office: March 15-17, 2019

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Badla held up extremely well in its second weekend in North America. It retained almost 80% of its opening weekend business after expanding into 21 more theaters, earning $465,342 from 115 theaters ($4,046 average) during the weekend of March 15-17, 2019, according to Box Office Mojo. Its $1,313,740 total currently ranks fifth for the year among Hindi films released in North America, but it will pass Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and move into fourth place before next weekend.

Other Bollywood movies still showing in North America:

  • Gully Boy: Week 5; $103,572 from 60 theaters; $1,726 average; $5,300,978 total
  • Luka Chuppi: Week 3; $66,815 from 54 theaters; $1,237 average; $963,904 total
  • Total Dhamaal: Week 4; $59,133 from 54 theaters; $1,095 average; $2,151,507 total
  • Uri: Week 10; $6,586 from five theaters; $1,317 average; $4,183,341 total

Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo

In Theaters: March 15, 2019

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The March 15, 2019, release date for Ritesh Batra’s Photograph is for India only. We won’t get it in the States until May 17. Looks like Chicago area Bollywood fans will have to make due with the films already available this weekend.

Last weekend’s new release Badla, carries over at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, and expands to the AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville.

Gully Boy gets a fifth week at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, AMC Niles 12 in Niles, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and Cantera 17 all hold over Luka Chuppi and Total Dhamaal.

Other Indian movies showing in Chicago area theaters (all films have English subtitles unless indicated):

Movie Review: Gully Boy (2019)

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3.5 Stars (out of 4)

Watch the movie on Amazon Prime
Buy the soundtrack at iTunes
Watch Gully Boy: Live in Concert on Amazon Prime

Aspiring filmmakers should study Gully Boy as a masterclass in character creation. Every character has a place in the story’s social fabric, and we see how they fit into the wider world — not just how they relate to the protagonist.

Murad (Ranveer Singh) is the spoke around which the rest of the characters in Gully Boy turn, but there’s always a sense that they have lives that continue when he’s not around. Murad suspects his criminal friend Moeen (Vijay Varma) is up to something dangerous, but he isn’t sure, since they’re not together all the time. The parents of their buddy Salman (Nakul Roshan Sahdev) are looking for a bride for him — something Murad’s fiery girlfriend Safeena (Alia Bhatt) uses to her advantage when the couple are on the outs.

Too often, Hindi movies with a male protagonist played by a big star consider the hero’s love interest only in terms of how she relates to him. Director Zoya Akhtar and writer Reema Kagti make sure that Safeena’s character is fully developed, showing her relationships with her parents and Murad’s friends. This doesn’t take away from Murad’s importance to the story, but instead emphasizes how he fits into his world. Giving all the characters agency adds to the movie’s realism and reinforces the notion that Murad’s actions have consequences for other people.

He and Safeena have kept their relationship secret from their parents for years, assuming that they’ll announce their intention to married when she finishes medical school and he earns a business degree. When Murad begins participating in the local rap scene, it changes the trajectory of his life and Safeena’s. Even though she supports his new endeavor, it means adjusting the plans for their future, since rapper isn’t an occupation that any of their conservative parents would approve of. A powerful scene in which Safeena asks her parents for the freedom to go places other than school highlights what she and Murad are up against, if he strays from the safe path to follow his dream.

Murad’s lyrics are born out of anger at the injustice that defines his world and limits his opportunities. His father, Aftab (Vijay Raaz in a chilling performance), accepts the limits imposed on poor Muslims and views educating Murad as a waste of money, since he’ll likely just end up a driver like his father anyway. Quashing Murad’s aspirations is a way of protecting himself from the truth that his own life might be better had he allowed himself to dream, instead of accepting what was forced upon him.

Gully Boy doesn’t pretend that Murad can succeed on desire alone, given the enormous societal forces he has to contend with at both the top and bottom of India’s economic ladder. He hones his craft under the tutelage of MC Sher (star-in-the-making Siddhant Chaturvedi), an established local rapper who understands Murad’s frustration and sees him as a voice for the underdogs in their neighborhood.

Ranveer Singh did his own rapping in the film, and the music overall is really good. (It would have been nice if the lyrics of the incidental music had been subtitled, and not just the lyrics from Murad’s scenes.) The lone weak points in Gully Boy are rap battle scenes — insult contests that have little in common with Murad’s introspective lyric-writing. I don’t know if one must be adept at rap battles to be considered a good rapper — or how one even wins a rap battle — but the sequences are dull.

Although Gully Boy isn’t an ensemble picture like Akhtar’s two most recent feature films — 2015’s Dil Dhadakne Do and 2011’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara — it almost feels as though it is, given how much care went into fleshing out the characters in orbit around the protagonist. Akhtar’s fascination with the connections between people sets her apart from her contemporaries and makes her one of India’s most compelling filmmakers.

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