Ranveer Singh says he wanted to play Moin more than Murad in Gully Boy: ‘I love the guy’

Actor Ranveer Singh has said that given the choice, he would have wanted to play Moin in Gully Boy.

Actor Ranveer Singh has said that more than his own character in the film Gully Boy, he connected with actor Vijay Varma’s character, Moin. Ranveer won a Filmfare Award for his lead performance in director Zoya Akhtar’s film, about street rappers in Mumbai. “I really connected with Moin. When I heard the narration, my biggest connect was with Moin,” he said.

Vijay Varma as Moin and Ranveer Singh as Murad in a still from Gully Boy.

“Little known fact about Moin’s track in Gully Boy,” Ranveer said in a roundtable interview conducted by journalist Rajeev Masand, “There is a whole chunk that is not there in the film. I’m sure when Zoya makes the entire package those deleted scenes will be there; they’re cracking. There was a whole track between Moin and Murad that was left out in order to make it more crisp, but credit to Vijay, in whatever he had, he made it so impactful.”

He said the Moin was his favourite character, ‘even at the script level’. He said that he had told Zoya that had she offered him a choice to pick the character he wanted to play, he’d have chosen Moin. “I love the guy,” he said.

Vijay added, “I remember reading the script at Zo’s place, and every time this guy (Ranveer) would jump on the sofa.” Vijay said that Ranveer gave him two inputs about playing Moin: “First thing is, he said, ‘bhai, City of God’.” Ranveer had drawn a comparison between Moin and the character of Li’l Zé from Fernando Meirelles’ film, about the slums of Rio de Janeiro. The second tip was, “You need to feel like the king but still be out of it.” Ranveer told him that anyone could find themselves in a similar situation, regardless of demographic and economic background. “I looked into his eyes,” Vijay said, “and I saw Moin right there.”

Ranveer, however, insisted that his biggest contribution was in the Benetton store scene, when Moin mocks rappers and their style. It was Ranveer’s suggestion that Vijay do that.

Gully Boy was a major box office and critical success. It was selected as India’s official entry to the 92nd Academy Awards.

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