Raees is a very uncommon movie to do for a mainstream superstar like Shah Rukh Khan. The film is inspired by the story of a gangster who earned notoriety and money selling contraband alcohol in the dry state of Gujarat. No need to use the usual ‘alleged’ or ‘reported’ because the similarities are too clear to be dismissed.
The first half of the movie deals with the growth of Raees from a mafia don’s goonda to become a don himself. It is in the second half the film gets into the groove. It depicts the politician-police-mafia nexus, how people in power use gangsters for their benefit and then throw them under the bus when their utility is over.
The movie also shows the don’s hand in the blasts (1993 terror attacks) by helping in the import of RDX into the country, but shows him as being tricked into doing it. Raees, when he gets to know the gold he helped smuggle had RDX which was used in the blasts, says “Apna mohalla bachane ke liye poora shahar jala daala. (To save my street I ended up setting the whole city on fire).”
The first half of the movie deals with the growth of Raees from a mafia don’s goonda to become a don himself. It is in the second half the film gets into the groove. It depicts the politician-police-mafia nexus, how people in power use gangsters for their benefit and then throw them under the bus when their utility is over.
The movie also shows the don’s hand in the blasts (1993 terror attacks) by helping in the import of RDX into the country, but shows him as being tricked into doing it. Raees, when he gets to know the gold he helped smuggle had RDX which was used in the blasts, says “Apna mohalla bachane ke liye poora shahar jala daala. (To save my street I ended up setting the whole city on fire).”
Shah Rukh Khan has performed well, as has Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Now the flaws. The film has too many songs for a gangster flick. And like all mafia films the gangster gets a Robin Hood treatment. But isn’t it evident every gangster has to support and help the people around him? Isn’t it an essential survival tactic? That brings us to the other question. What was the point in making this film? What was the purpose? I don’t see any.
