Raees review|Box office thread - Page 66

Critics' Verdict: The SRK vs Nawazuddin's Chemistry Wins

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Call me a Shah Rukh fanboy. But go watch Raees for its politics

Koi dhanda chhota nahi hota; dhande se bada koi dharam nahi hota (No work is lowly; and no religion is greater than your work) - that's the essence of Raees. And Shah Rukh Khan delivers the line looking straight at the camera, at you and me.

Pidgin philosophy? Perhaps. But it's worth the 142-minute runtime of this Rahul Dholakia film. (Okay, maybe minus a song here and there). Worth more so at a time when our great middle class is busy chasing mythic greatness.

In a way, Raees too is about chasing greatness, but at a more mundane level. Not by the mainstream middle class, but by the outlier, the 'other'. It is about the clash of two value systems, with their warts and all.

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Raees could be the story of a young man from anywhere. But it is the story of a young man from Gujarat. The state, whose history would have to be written as before and after 2002. Bollywood, though, has largely shied away from taking up projects based on what happened in Gujarat that year.

Dholakia's Parzania was among a handful of exceptions. But though he received a Swarna Kamal for directing it, the film didn't find many viewers.

With Raees, Dholakia returns to Gujarat, the Gujarat before 2002, with an equally important tale: well written and well executed. Going by the mood of the current dispensation, he perhaps won't be in the running for another national award, but this time he is sure to get much more eyeballs.

Which brings us to Shah Rukh Khan, an actor who has often tried to pass himself off as 'just an entertainer'. At other times he has expressed his wish to make at least a handful of films that he can leave behind as his legacy. Raees will be in that list. It is among those films which prove that when he wants he can be much more than a bundle of energy. Without hamming.

He is Raees, and Raees is him. Not every actor can boast of author-backed roles. But then not every one can carry them out with panache. Raees has the structure of a Shakespearean tragedy and Shah Rukh becomes the tragic hero effortlessly.

But then that is expected of him. How he ups the game is the conviction he brings in to the politics of the film. Raees is a political film, a rarity in the Bollywoodscape. The politics of Raees is not in your face. But it is unabashedly there: the politics of 'us' and 'them'; of 'votebanks'; of nexus and of peddling values.

Dholakia's biggest success perhaps is in making Shah Rukh a vessel to deliver that politics. Not that he has thrown all his mannerisms out of the window, but he commendably delivers what was required. Not more. Not less. Had he not been able to keep his character evolving throughout this film where its politics remains constant, Raees would have reached a dead end.

But it does not. It is kept pretty much alive until the end thanks to the world that Dholakia's crew and the rest of the cast creates around the central character. If Parzania had Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika, Raees has Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the foil to Shah Rukh. His character of cop Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar has two purposes in the film.

He is the sutradhar of Raees: the conductor of a hand-crafted tale. He is the string that binds the story together. Simultaneously, he is the propeller that takes the narrative forward, through to its logical end. A lesser actor perhaps would not have been able to resist the temptation to make it over-the-top. A lesser director perhaps would not have been able to bring out the counter-conviction.

In fact, Nawaz is not alone in this. Most actors in the film have commendably carried out this task of keeping their characters believable. Be it Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub as Raees's Man Friday, Mahira Khan as his wife, or Atul Kulkarni as a benefactor-turned-foe. Sunny Leone's Laila remake is not only a treat to watch, but a crucial plot point.

Their performance, together with the detailing that Dholakia's team has put together sets a perfect stage for the drama that has been mounted. KU Mohanan captures it brilliantly with his lens without showing off. Editor Deepa Bhatia has managed to keep the film moving throughout its runtime. Shaving off 10 minutes wouldn't have harmed though.

The team of writers: Dholakia himself, Harit Mehta, Ashish Vashi and Niraj Shukla deserve kudos. Dholakia more so for using Masala Shah Rukh effectively to tell the tale of a Gujarat gone by; with a hint of what a society could have become had it not chosen the path it did.

#Review: Relevant, Stylish And Politically Charged, Raees is SRK's Most Important Film Till Date

Shah Rukh Khan's introductory scenes, in all of his films, define the film itself. Generally he walks out of a cloud of smoke, hair impeccably in place, that glorious smile on his face, arms outstretched, reminding you once again why he is the country's king of romance. In Raees, the man is first seen shirtless, whipping himself with a cluster of blades during a Muharram procession - back bloodied, messy hair, eyes brimming with fervour and passion. Raees (Shah Rukh Khan) is a self-made bootlegger in prohibition Gujarat who slowly rises to political power while playing cat-and-mouse with a policeman (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) obsessed with reigning him in. As he climbs up, Raees finds allies in powerful men, but like they say, the higher you rise, the lower is the fall.

Directed by Rahul Dholakia, the man behind the unforgettable Parzania, Raees is a slick commercial film with all the elements of a mass entertainer. Packed with action, plot twists, hummable music and dialoguebaazi, the film ticks all the boxes. But the film does not abandon sense or sensibilities while doing so. The script is tight and well-written, with short reliefs of dry humour thrown in. There are delectable Macbethian shades in Raees's character and in his relationship with his wife. The cinematography and editing is commendable. One must specifically mention the meat market sequence - which was also ably supported by the production design department - and the dance bar face off. The songs are not memorable and mostly unnecessary, but the theme score is definitely striking enough and does its job. The background score is a tad too much but the necessity is understandable given the seventies-style action film treatment of the film.

And why do I talk about sensibilities? Bollywood films rarely have protagonists, especially leading men, belonging to minority communities. It is refreshing to see a Shah Rukh Khan ditch his lovey-dovey Rahul vibe for a character more real, rooted and robust. Not to mention that Muslim-Hindu bonhomie is portrayed with such a delightful matter-of-factness, one realizes how distant politics is from people. There is a poignant moment when Raees realizes that he has been unknowingly instrumental in a string of bomb blasts in the country. He breaks down, overcome by guilt and horror, and passionately tries to distance himself and his religion from the terrorists. His wife (Mahira Khan), unlike other action hero films, is not a pin up. She is his source of support and encouragement, and even that final nudge of confidence he needs when he decided to run for the elections from prison, she being his representative outside. Raees might be the alpha outside, beating up men who call him "Battery" - a slang used for bespectacled wimps - but she is the one who rules the house, and is the only one who can call him by that cuss.

Raees is definitely one of Shah Rukh Khan's best performances. The man is angry but conniving, intelligent but foolish in love. There are many moments in the film that show the prowess and depth the man has as an actor. When Raees is about to murder his mentor, his eyes mirror that of Macbeth when he was about to stab King Duncan - afraid of the man he has become but aware of the fact that this is the only way ahead. Shah Rukh is powerful, bursting with charisma, energy and a sort of hungry heat to scorch every scene with a fine balance of craft and charm. Hence, you cannot blame a Nawazuddin Siddiqui for not standing any chance at all in front of Shah Rukh, absolutely eclipsed, even though he plays his part of the obsessive no-nonsense police officer with elan. Mahira Khan is delightful in her Hindi debut and Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub makes for a fantastic support to Shah Rukh's Raees.

For all those who enjoy macho action films, this is how it's done. You don't have to be brazenly masochistic, lewd and sexist to feel manly enough to fight the bad guys.