: The Story of Divine,” directed by Mumbai-based Akshat Gupt of Supari Studios, is the first of a few documentaries that shine a light on just how much India’s hip-hop scene has grown.
After all, there are plenty of rappers — from Honey Singh to Badshah to Raftaar — famous for their work on Bollywood songs. “Gully Life” touches upon all the relevant names associated with Divine, including the first crew that he was part of, Mumbai’s Finest. Also seen in the documentary are Mumbai-based rappers such as Enkore , Naezy and Divine’s own Gully Gang crew, including DJ-producer Joel D’Souza , rapper D’Evil and more.
The success of these rappers has made the voice of lower and middle class India much more prominent. Mumbai’s long-standing low-income locality of Dharavi has birthed its own hip-hop culture, from b-boying crews to graffiti artists and multi-lingual rap groups such as Dopeadelicz and 7 Buntaiz, while the city has also birthed one of the most important protest crews in the country, Swadesi.