‘Bigg Boss OTT 3’: Meet Naezy, the rapper, who inspired Ranveer Singh’s blockbuster ‘Gully Boy’

Hip-hop artiste Naved Shaikh, also known by his stage name Naezy, has grabbed headlines for becoming a contestant for the third season of ‘Bigg Boss OTT’. His ‘underdog’ story has grabbed eyeballs for being an inspirational rags-to-riches tale.

For the unversed, the 2019 hit film ‘Gully Boy’ starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, was said to be based on the story of Naezy. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, ‘Gully Boy’ was a resounding success, earning more than Rs 230 crore at the box-office.

Read on to find out more about the hip-hop sensation.

Who Is Naezy?

Naved Shaikh, better known ‘as Naezy is one of the most eminent voices in the hip-hop scene in India today. He hails from a lower-middle-class family from Kurla, Mumbai. He grew up in a dilapidated slum called Ram Bachan Chawl. He always had a penchant for music and grew up grooving to Sean Paul’s songs.


Naezy burst out into the hip-hop scene with the DIY music video ‘Aafat!’ in 2014. It became a rage on YouTube and gathered more than 200,000 views. This was followed by a breakout hit single ‘Mere Gully Mein’, which also featured his fellow rap artiste DIVINE. The two friends' meteoric rise to success was fictionalised in ‘Gully Boy’.

Naezy’s brush with spotlight did not end there. In 2015, he made his cinematic debut with the song ‘Birju’, which was featured in the movie ‘Hey Bro’. The music starred celebs such as Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Hrithik Roshan along with dance icon Prabhu Deva.

Naezy has a huge following on Instagram. His handle currently has over 306K followers.

He made his foray into reality TV this year. He will be battling with fellow contestants such as Chandrika Dixit, the Delhi Vada Pav girl, TV actors Sai Ketan Rao, Paulomi Das, and Sana Maqbool Khan, social media influencers Sana Sultan and Vishal Pandey for the grand prize. Veteran actor Anil Kapoor will be host for the third season.