Amruta Subhash inisisted on playing Ranveer Singh's mother in Gully Boy despite only 6-year age gap, Zoya Akhtar was hesitant: ‘Tum bahut chhoti ho'

Indian Express

10-06-2025

The age-gap between superstars and female leads in their films invariably makes news for their age-gap, which is often measured in decades. However, there are times when women play mothers to actors who are almost the same age as them, Shefali Shah playing mother to Akshay Kumar in Waqt The Race Against Time (2005) is a case in point. However, actor Amruta Subhash insisted on playing the role of Ranveer Singh's character Murad Ahmed's mother Razia, in Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy. Amruta is only 6 years older than Ranveer. While their mother-son dynamic felt believable and impactful, the film's director Zoya wasn't convinced if Amruta will be able to pull it off given the fact that they are same age.
During an interview with The Lallantop, the actor recalled Zoya Akhtar's reluctance to offer Ranveer's mother's role to Amruta due to their age gap. 'When Zoya saw me for the first time, she said, 'Arey yaar sorry, tum toh bahut hi chhoti ho'. She saw me in Raman Raghav so she thought I will fit the role. I asked her to tell me first what it was. She briefed me about the film and felt that I won't look like his mother,' she shared.
She added, 'I asked her to at least give the script to me. I got the confidence suddenly and reassured her that I will pull it off. She gave the script and said that you can say no, there's no pressure. Read the script and do whatever you want.'
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It was one of the intense scenes in Gully Boy that made Amruta give a nod to the role.' When I read the line, 'Kya tune kabhi socha tha mujhe kaise chhoona hai?' A woman belonging to the slums of Dharavi, saying this to her husband in from of their children, it struck me that I have to do this. I want this dialogue, I want to do this scene. At that moment, I forgot about the all fear, everything went away. I confirmed to Zoya that I'll do it,' the actor said.
Sharing the screen space with actor Vijay Raaz was a dream come true for Amruta Subhash. 'Zoya started the rehearsals and when I saw Vijay Raaz doing a performance on the stage, I got scared. I wanted to learn from him, he taught me the timings for this scene. Mai bahut jaldi bolgayi thi kyunki mujhe darr lagg raha tha. He asked me to say my dialogues after pausing for three seconds, and I did. Sometimes, such suggestions can do the work for you,' she revealed, revisiting one of their shots.
Gully Boy (2019) was a commercial and critical success. Besides Amruta and Ranveer, the film also featured Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Varma, and Kalki Koechlin.