We spoke to Altaf Shaikh AKA MC Altaf, a 19-year old rapper from Dharavi, Mumbai, who has a song in Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy. From our conversation, I discovered that Altaf has done more than just singing a song for this film. He has taught Ranveer Singh the ‘Bambaiya’ lingo and also helped with additional dialogues in the film!
When asked about Gully Boy, he was really happy to say that this movie is going to bring about a change in the hip-hop culture in India and also said that no other actor could have done justice to this role other than Ranveer.
There was a special screening held for all the rappers on 13 February which was a day before the release of the film.
Altaf told us that the hip hop scene has started reaching all age groups and genders because of this film and that, after the screening, an uncle walked up to him and said, “I had no idea about hip-hop before son, but now after going home, I will only listen to rap music”.
He said that, “Every boy living in a ghetto will be able to relate to this movie because it is their actual story and the events shown in the film would have happened to each one at a different point of time in their lives”.
Overall, MC Altaf is very happy and thrilled about people watching the film. But, one thing that bothered him which he thinks should be fixed in a sequel to this movie (if it’s happening) is that he wants to see more female representation in the hip-hop culture and not keep it a male-dominated scene.
Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan
Cameraperson: Sanjoy Deb
Assistant Cameraperson: Gautam Sharma
Sound: Vishnu Venugopalan
Producer: Bilal Jaleel
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