MUMBAI: One is a celebrated poet and lyricist, and the other is voice of the streets. And on the soundtrack of the latest video, Doori released from the upcoming rap movie, Gully Boy, Javed Akhtar and Divine have joined forces to write an introspective hip-hop track, sung by Ranveer Singh.

The hard-hitting lyrics address issues of economic inequality, the wealth gap, and urban alienation giving listeners a peek into Singh’s character, Murad’s state of mind in the movie.

 Akhtar, who over his illustrious career has won the Filmfare award 14 times and the national Award five times, is recognized for his flair in Urdu and has penned some of the most beautiful verses written in Bollywood. But on Doori, Akhtar has swapped elegance for ferocity, matching Divine’s straight-talking style. The Jungli Sher and One Side singer, whose biting rhymes have given Indian hip-hop a new lease of life, has his stamp all over Doori.

“Finding myself in the same room with Javed Akhtar and writing a song together was not something I had ever imagined,” says Divine of the experience. “He is known for writing beautiful prose and I write about life on the streets, but the experience was so creatively satisfying. Javedji gave me poetry that he had written, and it was a surreal experience to build a song with those words! I added my own style and words to turn it into a rap song that Murad (Ranveer Singh's character) would sing. It was all a dream, to be honest. And I won't lie, Doori is one of my favorite songs in the movie,” the rapper adds.

Divine has also written the lyrics for other songs in Gully Boy like Azadi, Apna Time Aayega, Mere Gully Mein and Sher Aya Sher. 

Interestingly, Doori is also one of Gully Boy director Zoya Akhtar’s favorite songs in the movie. Zoya is Javed Akhtar’s daughter.

Gully Boy, a movie inspired by the rise of Indian hip-hop, is set to release internationally on 14 February 2019.