Crediting Ranveer Singh's observant nature for his powerful act, Naezy deconstructs how actor transformed into rapper for Gully Boy
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; January 25, 2019)

Naezy is glad that Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy is bringing rap, which has become a subculture unto its own in the past few years, into the mainstream. While the drama — loosely inspired by Divine and Naezy — sees Ranveer Singh as a street rapper, the artiste clarifies at the outset that the film is not a biopic.

"If you pick up any rapper in Mumbai, our struggles are similar. There are certain instances that have been taken from my life, but some parts have been fictionalised too," says Naved Shaikh, who burst on to the rap scene in 2014 as Naezy.

Involved with the Alia Bhatt starrer since its inception, the artiste says that Singh began his prep months before the project went on floors — the actor would often meet him to gain insights into the world of music.

"We would constantly speak about the indie scene in India. Ranveer has rapped earlier, so that made things easier for him. Apart from that, he is a great observer. He would study us — from our body language, to how we create lyrics for our songs and the kind of language we use in them. When you look at him in the film, it feels as if he has become one of us."

In his bid to stay in character, Singh would apparently tune into Divine and his creations. "He would play my track, Aane De, on loop during the shoot, besides other rap songs composed by Divine and me. Once Ranveer would set foot on the set, he was completely in the zone."