Raees
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Director: Rahul Dholakia
Two stars
Shah Rukh Khan may be the leading man of Raees, but the film belongs to Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
The film starts with young Raees getting an early head start into the bootlegging business by transporting bottles in his school bag.
After working years for a local bootlegger, he grows up wanting to be the kingpin of his own network — which involves bribing, murdering and other criminal activities. But he is the criminal with a heart of gold, the man who gets teary-eyed before shooting his mentor, donates books to the local school, cooks for his wife and even helps women start their own businesses.
He makes a lot of friends and enemies in the process, gets tricked by a politician into going to jail, and emerges a hero as he is voted to be an MLA, despite being a jailmate. His criminal activities, of course, eventually catch up with him.
The film is set up so that the superstar shines — except that he doesn’t. Khan looks good while attempting to do so — with his gold glasses, kohl rimmed eyes and the ability to think quick on his feet, but his performance seems lacklustre.
Mahira Khan, who plays the leading lady, fails to make any impact. In fact, her role is so genericthat practically any actress from Bollywood could have played it and saved the producers all the drama they faced — Pakistani artists are now banned in India.
Khan’s performance is wooden and one dimension, and she fades in the background in the presence of stalwarts like SRK and Siddiqui.
Siddiqui is the star of the film, he plays IPS officer Majmudar — and his dry wit and humour coupled combined with his intelligence sees him constantly on the heels of the gangster Raees.
He is a part of a system he respects, yet he is aware of the pitfalls — but doesn’t give up on his quest.
Raees and Majmudar have their own relationship, and while the former is constantly trying to outwit the latter, they seem to have a sort of mutual respect for one another.
The music is nothing to write home about, and some songs are almost jarring, out of place and unnecessary. The flow of the story is also riddled with glitches, and has a number of unnecessary sub plots.
The film is not completely unwatchable — it is reminiscent of a 1980s pot boiler masala film, except that it is Siddiqui who brings in the charm, not SRK.
ajhurani@thenational.ae
