Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy has finally released and there is a newcomer Siddhant Chaturvedi who has grabbed the audience’s attention. Siddhant plays MC Sher who introduces Murad to rap and mentors him as he tries to find his place in the rap scene.
Born in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, Siddhant moved to Mumbai at the age of five. He studied to become a chartered accountant and it was only after winning a talent contest organised by Bombay Times that he decided to devote himself to the performing arts instead.
I asked my dad, “Dad I need some time off from studies and let me just go and try. It’s an articleship; there’s an internship that I have to do. Which I did for a month and I then I told dad, “I need a break.” And during that break, it happened, you know? I started auditioning.”Siddhant on breaking into acting.
He landed his first role in 2016 in a web series by Pyaar Ka Punchnama director Luv Ranjan called Life Sahi Hai. He was then seen in Emmy-nominated Amazon Prime Original Inside Edge where he played the role of a young cricketer.
Gully Boy marks Siddhant’s Bollywood debut.
I was dancing on ‘Mirchi Lagi Toh Mein Kya Karu’ when Zoya saw me for the first time. Then ‘Gallan Goodiyan’ played from Dil Dhadakne Do and then I danced with her. Just immediately after that, she was like, “Listen! who are you? I want you to audition for this.” I’m like “Yeah,” and that’s how I bagged the audition.Siddhant on how he landed the role of MC Sher in Gully Boy.
Post the film’s release, Siddhant has earned a huge fan following. His Instagram followers have shot up to over 200k subscribers and he’s still adapting to the sudden fame.
“See, I had expected some kind of appreciation but this went off the roof!”Siddhant on the response to his performance in Gully Boy.
Camera: Vishnu Venugopalan
Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan
Producer: Bilal Jaleel
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)