Raees
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mahira Khan, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Rated: 6.5/10
That Raees would make more money that Kaabil was a foregone conclusion. Not because of the starcast, though it does have an impact, the truth is that the film is loosely based on the life of Abdul latif, a big-time bootlegger in Gujarat. Whenever there is a film that draws inspiration from real life, the audience tends to have a different perspective as opposed to a pure work of art. A case in point beingSultan and Dangal.
Though the makers say that — “The story of the film is a pure work of fiction, not based on any person; living or dead” reads the disclaimer. But it is difficult not to draw a parallel with this criminal who was wanted in over 100 cases of murder, contract killing, extortion including wanted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Shah Rukh Khan as Raees is the anti-hero with a heart of gold. As viewers, we automatically empathise with him despite him being the villain and Nawazuddin Siddiqui the hero — not your typical hero who sings and dances around trees but a hero nonetheless.
We have seen glimpses of how good an actor he is in movies like Badlapur, Manjhi, The Mountain Man and of course Bajrangi Bhaijaan. He has slowly but steadily climbed the ladder to reach the top. His portrayal as Majmudar, an IPS officer, is nothing less than extraordinary. The truth is, and fans of SRK will not agree, it is Nawazuddin’s brilliant acting that ups SRK’s performance too so that we get to see what we saw in Chak De India. It is another matter that here, SRK is with surma and round framed spectacles.
Then there is laila mein laila featuring Sunny leone. The song has a great beat and what happens in the backdrop of this item number is even more brilliant. To top it all, there are the dialogues. Take this as an example. ‘Raees ka aur mera rishta bada ajeeb hai ... paas reh nahi sakta aur saala door jaane nahi deta’, Nawazuddin says.
But what will want you to clap and whistle will be this dialogue from SRK — ‘Din aur raat logon ke hote hai. Sheron ka zamaana hota hai’.