Review of Raees (2017) by Shreehari H — 26 Jan 2017

Shah Rukh Khan is, in many ways, an embodiment of quintessential anti-heroism, his magnetic screen presence invariably lending heft even to half-baked roles like that of Don whom he played six years ago.

In Raees, however, Khan ups the ante considerably, playing a kohl-eyed, bespectacled liquor peddler with consummate flair - ostentation has seldom felt more fun.

Director Rahul Dholakia won universal acclaim for his National Award winning feature Parzania that focussed on the disastrous Gujarat riots of 2002 and their aftermath.

He returns to familiar territory with Raees, spinning a blood-spattered yarn of treachery, gumption and chicanery.

The film is reportedly based on the real-life story of the Gujarati gangster Abdul Latif - as a result, it never fails to feel frighteningly authentic.

However, a film of this nature is, more often than not, forced to cater to demands indirectly stipulated by popular mainstream cinema, and it shows.

Poor Sunny Leone is relegated to gyrating in front of hundreds of lecherous salivating men while Raees, conveniently enough, chooses the aforementioned moment to take down his nemesis for good.

Mahira Khan is strangely insipid in her performance as the titular hero's wife - this makes for a vapid romance that lacks both substance and bite.

Nitpicking aside, Raees is a compelling character study of a deeply flawed man who refused to comply with various restrictions imposed by the place of his upbringing - and ended up paying the price for it.

Raees managed to get an entire state - dry, as it self-righteously reiterates to this very day - high on alcohol.

A few decades down the line, the actor who portrayed him continues to get an entire nation high on cinema.