Raees:A Movie Review

‘Merae Khoon kae Afsoos kae Saath Jee lo gae, Majmudar Sahib?’

Being a die-hard fan of Shahrukh Khan since the days of ‘Darr’, watching Raees was more of a loyalty calling, than an actual excitement  to watch the movie. The trailers had little to offer in terms of a hidden plot or a zing-ed up twist. Yet, in the name of supporting ‘Pak-Indian’ casting, I sat down for almost 3 hours to watch this most awaited big names movie.

The movie starts with a childhood creation of a Daro-dealer, which has become quite a common theme with all such similar movies. The idea of a Robin hood in the makingfrom childhood, has become popular among Bollywood directors. Maybe there is a research which supports the popularity of showing the history, resonating more with the general public? Who knows…

Now I am in no way here to spoil the story-line, so do not read on to get the plot from here forth. You can rely on good old non-factual Wikipedia for that..

The personification of ‘Raees’ by SRK, gave me goosebumps! And No, not in a good way.. it kept reminding me of the Pakistan’s own claim-to-fame SRK; Amir Liaqat! Please tell me if I am the only one who saw the similarities!

While I enjoyed the acting of SRK in his last flick; ‘Fan’, this movie left much to be desired. I did not find SRK to rise to the occasion of adapting to the role. Somehow he could not create the character of ‘Raees’ as a whole identity. Believe me, I write this with a broken heart and no joy….

As far as the much awaited Mahira Khan’s role as Aasiya goes, I felt that the director limited her scope. As an emerging actress in Bollywood, she did not receive much spot light or strong dialogues. Hmmm.. something similar to what happened to Fawad Khan in Khoobsurat… Is working in Bollywood more for the purpose of playing an ‘Eye-Candy’ from across the border?

Thankfully, my time was not all lost, as I enjoyed the dry wit and strong presence of Nawazuddin  Siddique. His role of a lone shairf yet dedicated officer, made his chase of Raees enjoyable. For sure, he was able to hold his own against King Khan, and did not shy away to show his authority through his role.

Overall, I would give the movie a 2.5/5. The songs were not memorable enough to stay long on your music-list. The dialogues were sufficient. The editing and filming was good as per the requirement of the action movie theme. Overall, watch it to say, ‘Oh yes I saw it’..

Oh as for the lines I wrote in the start of the post… watch the movie to know the background

Let me know with a comment below as to how did you like the film?