Raees

Gear up for a throwback to the great Salim-Javed blockbusters of the Seventies, where the hero grows up mid-action,breaks the tension and action sequences compel you to whistle. Carrying that legacy forward, is Raees. Shah Rukh Khan plays the titular character of a spectacled goon who hates being called "battery"; he starts from harmless Ponzi schemes but graduates to pre- planned rackets and becomes the top bootlegger of his town. Shah Rukh Khan has never looked better; he's full of fury and for once, isn't spreading his arms, but breaking others'. The film lies entirely on his shoulders and he carries the weight most of the times. When he doesn't, the ever-so-reliable Nawazuddin Siddiqui steps in with his crackling performance. In the trademark Nawaz style, he delivers some comic relief. Mahirah is restricted to songs and a few emotional scenes, but doesn't really add much. If her purpose was to soften the baddie, it's lost on the viewer.Action Scenes Are Like Every Other Bollywood Movie. The first half is well- paced; it draws you in and makes you root for the SRK, But the second half plunges into a weird Robin Hood zone where the antihero's morals are suddenly defibrillated and he becomes a messiah. The movie takes a rough path there on, and the long runtime makes the ride bumpier. The movie can feel a bit long, but if you're going for a great Shah Rukh performance and some good old popcorn- entertainment,And It Gives A Good Message To Viewers. it might just 'raees' to the occasion.

the movie strongly resembles with Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, hence being predictable with no climax.

needless to say nawazuddin work being top notch. A must watch for shahrukh lovers.

From the beginning of the movie till the end the two dialogues are used frequently making them cliché.

direction and screenplay along with the story would have been better.

the movie highlights the era of raees in fatehpura city of gujarat and how a typical honest cop chase him and gets him

mahira kahan in her debut role does a great job

Every Sharukh Khan release is an event in itself, RAAES is no different. Most of the characters the Khan had been portraying in the recent past have been disappointing to his fans…even the much admired Jahingar Khan of Hello Zindagi was not of much satisfaction due to the limited screen time. And now Raees is something his fans had been waiting and praying that it would tip the balance of fortune towards their much loved star

And yes….from the word go, we know a masterpiece is unfolding on the screen. Though the story is not new..a rise and fall of a righteous don has been done to death in Bollywood from times immemorial, but what sets Raees apart is Sharukh Khan, his performance and the amazing screenplay.

Jaideep Majumdar (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) reminiscences his tryst with bootlegger Raees (Sharukh Khan) way back in the 90's. Raees story unfolds right from his childhood where he is touchy about his short sight (has to wear glasses) and people calling him "battery" due to this impairment. His Ammi (Sheeba Chaddha) is his greatest influence and her words "business is bigger than religion as long as it does not harm anyone" remains in his mind and starts working for a local don (Atul Kulkarni).

Raees once when he is old enough decides to start his own business and miffs the don and joins hands with a Mumbai don Moosa who funds Raees's bootlegging business.

Raees falls in love and gets married to Aasiya (Mahira Khan) and soon becomes a father. His rise disturbs the local don who tries killing Raees and fails and ends up getting killed by him.

Jaideep Majumdar, a honest police officer is hot on the trail of Raees and uses every method at his disposal to bring Raees down, but he is unsuccessful as Raees has the support of both the ruling and the opposition party.

But soon, Raees's ego makes him a commit one fatal error which turns things in favor of Majumdar…..

Sharukh is back to doing what he does best, hogging the screen time and also giving one of his career's best performances, his ire when called Battery, or when he is weeping away to glory in his wife's arms after a major setback or his astounding performance in the climax undoubtedly proves the crown is still his.

Mahira Khan performs well in what little screen time she has, as the only person who gets away after making fun of Raees's short sight. Wish she had more screen time.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is wow as Jaideep Majumdar, the scenes involving him intimidating his superiors, or the several faceoffs with Raees showcase his talent.

Sunny Leone brings the house down with the peppy item LAILA and her tumka's are well synchronized to the beats

K U Mohanan's Cinematography captures rustic Gujrat at its best, the filters highlighting the era in which the film is based

Deepa Bhatia's editing ensures the movie does not drag and uses the scissors the right way in making the film crispy and entertaining.

Rahul Dholakia's direction is top notch and it is not a mean task handling two live wires Sharukh and Nawazuddin together, but he has managed to extract the best possible scenes involving both of them. He has also managed to recreate the 70-90's era with just the right touches

Watch it if you are a hardcore Sharukh khan and also if you have a major crush on Sunny Leone and also if you have been missing the wonderful action sequences of the 80's.

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

"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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