This Week brings the most awaited movies of 2017 – Raees and Kaabil. Well, with Raees, SRK opens up with a huge hype surrounding around. The film happens to be an action crime thriller, which is directed by Rahul Dholakia and it is produced by Gauri Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under the banners of Red Chillies Entertainment and Excel Entertainment. The film has Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead roles. The Pak based beauty Mahira Khan is doing her debut with this film. The film is loosely based on the life of a criminal Abdul Latif though the makers deny about the same. The movie is set up in the eighties and revolves around the life of Raees from Gujarat. Besides, SRK, we have Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Atul Kulkarni and Sheeba Chaddha in supporting roles, while Sunny Leone does an item number appearing in the special appearance.
Raees Story
Raees played by Shah Rukh Khan is a bright child, who in his early school going years learns the art of doing alcohol business in a dry state in Gujarat. Soon he starts working under a popular liquor smuggler played by Atul Kulkarni in his early years but later switches on to start his own business. He has his own rule that any business though appears to be small but it is big in reality and it has only benefits for the society. And thanks to his ‘tedha dimaag’ he soon manages to make his business a big league. However, his growing success is soon nailed by the ACP Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. And thus, begins the chase of cat and mouse between the two. While the street smart ways and political network work in favor of Raees helps this man but that doesn’t stop Majmudar to follow him. So, will Majmudar be able to nail Raees? Can Raees be tamed is an interesting question to explore.
Raees Review
Though the makers claimed that the film doesn’t depict anybody’s life, but in reality Raees is all about celebrating a real life villain. The first half of the movie is rightly planned and takes off in a right note. Thanks to the great build up to Raees’ character right from his childhood to an ace business man of liquor in the dry state like Gujarat. At the same time, Raees has a Robinhoodesque image, which somewhere can annoy the audience as the people would really loved to catch SRK in a gangster avatar and the heart of gold touch was barely needed. The key element to the story of Raees is to keep the audience hooked and it pretty much works here. However, one can find the film soon shifting from politics, to romance and action seamlessly, thus keeping a Bollywood fan entertained. The dialogues are smartly made that resemble the style of Deewar could surely get whistles blowing at most theaters. In the second half one may find the film going a bit dull in terms of script but it has loads of heroism with stretching up of the climax.
Raees Star Performance
Let’s talks about SRK, he looks dreamy as Raees, while his kohl eyes really suits him. Coming to the acting he has simply excelled in his job wherein at one end he shows extreme anger and on the other he breaks down. Overall, he is in much better a space compared to his previous acts such as Dilwale and Happy New Year. For his fans, this one will be winner! Talking about the Pak based beauty Mahira Khan, her casting has been the talk of the town. Unfortunately, she has failed to emote appropriately in a few scenes but her beauty has overpowered her flaws. Amidst all, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has once again emerged out as a star. Every scene with this actor comes along with loads of entertainment and he is the true key to why this film is a fun watch. Loved him all through! The actor Zeeshan Ayyub too comes as a great performer doing his job well. Atul Kulkarni, Sheeba Chadda, Uday Tikekar put up a great supporting cast and last but not the least, Sunny Leone sizzles in her item number ‘Laila’.
Raees Direction, Music and other stuff
Rahul Dholakia once again has nailed it and we finally get to see it now and one can say, this is a safe bet for Shah Rukh Khan, considering its utterly commercial appeal. The 80s setting is really nicely captured and can be called as a good job from the production design team. Also, the costume department has done a wonderful job for making Shah Rukh look alluring in bell bottoms. The director has succeeded in making an entertainer that has a confluence of all elements needed to appeal a Bollywood freak. First of all, he gets Shah Rukh on board, then makes him a villain with a heart of gold, then laces it up with SRK style romance, a slow-motion action and chase sequence and lastly a dramatic climax. The VFX on one particular chase sequence involving Shah Rukh looks shoddy though but seeing him flying off places and climbing like spider-man is interesting. The action overall too, could have been choreographed better. The Background score is good and the songs are hummable. Yet, they form as a jerk in terms of a gripping story-telling.
Raees The Last Word
The Raees is a complete entertainment package. It has all the elements, which any typical B Town audience would aspire including, action, drama, romance, thrill, comedy and yes the full too masala that makes the film a paisa-wasool entertainer for massy Bollywood fans. And with greater performances from Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the film becomes an ultimate treat to catch giving us the opportunity to give better ratings.
Rating ****
