Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; January 22, 2019)

In the days since Gully Boy’s first track — Apna Time Aayega — dropped online, Ranveer Singh has wowed fans with his rapping skills in a way that only he can. Now, mid-day has learnt that the actor is set to showcase his newly-acquired talent along with professional musicians at a concert in Byculla. Come January 24, the makers will host a gig to mark the music launch of Gully Boy.

The evening will see Singh take to the mic to croon the tracks along with rappers Divine and Naezy (below), whose lives are the inspiration behind the Zoya Akhtar-directed venture.

Says the director, “It will be an electric evening. We are excited about the music launch as we will have our artistes performing at the gig.” She adds that the concert was a brainchild of producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar. “There is no other way to drop this album than to slam it live,” exclaims Akhtar, whose film trains the spotlight on the underground rap scene of the country.

While leading lady Alia Bhatt will host the event, rappers — including D–Cypher, Beat Raw, D’evil, MC Altaf, Rahul Raahi, Nexus and SpitFire, among others — will hit the stage.