Raees

I saw this film with my family in a theater. Used to watch a tv serial with my wife starring Mahira n had been a fan of her since. It is about a poor kid who works for some shady guys, later progresses n starts working for a bigger syndicate. One fine day the grown up boy wants to start his own business n splits from the syndicate. Nothing new, except for some good one liners, good performance by Nawaaz as the cop hell bent on taking down all the bootleggers. SRK is better doing these kinda roles n not running around the trees with his open arms. One very bad sequence of parkour. SRK running on rooftops is silly coz it wasn't executed well. It looked too fake n very lousy. Watch District b13, Yamakasi, Tracers, Casino Royale's chase sequence, Chris Brown's parkour sequence from Takers. The shot gun scenes were well shot. I am a fan of action sequences with shot guns. I still enjoy Steve McQueen's The Getaway shot gun sequence.

The crime don Raees makes us believe he is just not SRK at all. He is absolutely convincing in what ever character he plays always. Each frame makes us flatter to Mr.khan's hotness in Raees. Raees is dark, yet extremely honest and very lovable. Kudos to such a committed actor in these times!!! what more to say,,very proud to b his FAN. darling Nawazuddin Siddiqui,, what an entry..he has beaten everyone wow. a Mr.perfect cop with no support but great will at heart,too great!! yes, v can give it "in writing" to you sire, totally impossible to take eyes off from Mr. Majumdar. Sheeba Chadda as Raees's mom is absolutely fantastic; Mahira khan, Zeeshan Ayyub, Atul Kulkarni added a good support. The poor screenplay is the major drawback of #raees wish it were more crisp so that the movie would be even more gripping :( The background score is all lovely; songs were good, could have been even more better for the commercial movie lovers ;) its -> DANDHA vs DHOKA ? SRK vs NAWAZ ?? catch their tight fight !! #undoubtedlybrightestperformances

After being in making for past 2 years and being shelved for multiple reasons, "Raees" finally sees the light of the day. The trailer looked promising bringing back the 80's Bollywood era and so were the dialogue promos and the songs. Does "Raees" lives up to the mammoth expectations ? Well, it was almost there with few glitches and few engaging moments ...

Inspired by the true story of liquor don, Abdul Latif, who ruled Gujarat and even few parts of India, "Raees" tells the rags-to-rich tale of Raees Alam (played by Shah Rukh Khan) who faces the heat at the peak of his supremacy by a tough cop (played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

From the director of National Award winning,"Parzania" and "Lamha", Rahul Dholakia gives his first attempt at the commercial potboiler and is fairly successful. The film kicks off in 1970 showing how a small boy becomes a local bootlegger into full grown small time smuggler, Shah Rukh, who steals the scene with his entry and uses his tactics to setup his own independent liquor business. The film becomes an interesting watch, moment Nawazuddin enters the scene. His witty one-liners are impeccable and you will enjoy each and every moment of it. The first scene between Shah Rukh and Nawaz at the police station is good. The first half does have few tense moments to sail it through. With second half, the movie starts dragging and sometimes feel out of places.

The songs places hindrance to the flow of the film while action scenes looks tacky. The screenplay loses the track and becomes a typical melodrama in the later half of the film with new to offer. This is definitely not the best work from Rahul Dholakia carrying huge expectations. Even barring the tuneful and well-choreographed "Udi Udi", none of the songs will be memorable once you leave the theater. I loved the original version of "Laila" featuring Zeenat Aman from "Qurbani". Editing could have more crispy.

What works is admirable cinematography and fine art direction. The dialogues are simply mind blowing especially "Koi Bhi Dhanda Chotha Nahi Hota". Coming to the performances, Shah Rukh Khan makes a good comeback. The superstar steals the show with his daring avatar speaking much through his eyes and expressing appropriately. Watch for him in the climax scene. Nawazuddin is outstanding. The supremely talented actor gets much chance to show case his talent and he does it with aplomb. Mahira Khan is just about okay. Talents like Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub and Atul Kulkarni are wasted due to under-written roles.

Overall, "Raaes" is watchable only once for electrifying performances by Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Decent 2.75/5

• Ketan Gupta

Shah Rukh Khan as Raees rocks as usual. He lives as a don throughout the movie. The anger in his face, the romance that he showcases, the sentiment he experiences and the fights he undergoes shows he hasn't aged at all. The style he carries as a don will bring whistles in the theaters for sure.

His dialogue delivery is perfect as ever. He impresses in every frame. One of the best roles Shah Rukh has done in his career. His lead pair Mahira Khan as Aasiya has little screen presence. But she has utilized it well. Be it the sentiment scenes or the romantic part she is a perfect addition. A little more of her screen presence wouldn't have spoiled the movie.

As Shah Rukh, Nawazuddin Siddiqui does have a powerful role. He walks with pride as the ACP Majmudar. His acting was perfect and does what was needed for the role. I won't say it's his best ever, but he delivers what was needed.

Rahul Dholakia's direction was excellent. He has handled both the character to the perfection. Whereas directing Shah Rukh or Nawazuddin, he has added the right blend. The recreation of the 90's time frame was the top notch. The battery scenes are good add, Mahira is the only one spared for calling Shah Rukh the battery.

Cinematography by K.U.Mohana and the music by Ram Sampath are added colour. Sunny Leone sizzles as Laila.

Though the screenplay is good the story is way old one. There are few side-lines like messed up action sequences and a dragging second half. Director should have concentrated in trimming the second half.

It's a must watch if you are a die-hard Shah Rukh fan, but as a common movie goer few might find it boring in the second half.

"Engaging Gangster flick with srk's and nawazuddin's good performance but the story is bit old and could have been better but overall it is a watchable flick"

My rating- 3.3/5

Positives-

1.)Direction and screenplay- Direction was good and director succeeded in fusing correct elements required for this movie. Screenplay was equally good but story was little used and old and this brings slightly downfall to this movie.

2.)Srk , Nawazuddin and Mahira - Srk as usual did his role neatly. Mahira as the female lead didn't have any trouble and succeeded in bringing charm to her character. Nawazuddin was also good but not his career best performance. Same for srk as well. These two actors had potential but the screenplay didn't allow them. Srk i can understand but screenplay could have given nawazuddin chance to show his talent. This role looked like as if it wasn't written for him. He didn't do bad and i wont blame him but scriptwriter could have taken little notice on this.

3.)Cinematography and edits

4.)Music and bgscore

5.)Some powerful dialogues

Negatives-

1.) Story- It was bit old and it didn't have any support from director or scriptwriter to make it good. This is one of the major flaw which i found in this movie.

2.)Duration- It was lagging and it will bore audience a lot. Makers could have trimmed it.

3.) Action scenes looked messed up at some areas

Is it a must watch?

I don't recommend it as must movie because this movie may not suit all types of audience.

Overall- Raees may bore some or entertain and it all depends on audience's taste. This movie could have been better but as an final product it was watchable one but not an extraordinary flick.

My rating - 3.3/5

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