Bigg Boss 19 Daily Discussion Thread - 12th Sept 2025
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Sep 12, 2025 EDT
🏏T20 Asia Cup 2025- BD vs HK 3rd Match, Group B, Abu Dhabi 🏏
🏏T20 Asia Cup 2025- Pak vs Oman 4th Match, Group A, Dubai🏏
HUM JEET GAYE 12.9
Is it just me or…
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Sep 13, 2025 EDT
Patrama Prem ~ A Gosham SS ~ Chapter 4 on pg 2
Anupamaa 12 Sept 2025 Written Update & Daily Discussions Thread
Aabeer Gulaal reviews and box office
The 71st National Film Awards are September 23 in Delhi
PARAYI AURAT 13.9
Tanya was fab today👏🏻
🏏T20 Asia Cup 2025 Ban vs Sri Lanka, 5th Match, Group B, Abu Dhabi🏏
"Gujarat is a state where each day is a dry day," is one of the first dialogues of Raees. Naturally, wherever there's prohibition, there's bound to be bootlegging. Gujarat is no exception and its common knowledge that despite the ban, one can easily procure alcohol in this dry state'. Raees takes this idea and attempts to make a film about a man who earns big bucks by selling alcohol illegally in Gujarat. There's no doubt that the premise is great and the film to an extent does entertain thoroughly. But the film sadly is quite routine and after a point, offers nothing new. More on it later!
The story of the movie: Raees (Shah Rukh Khan) sells alcohol illegally in Gujarat. He uses his brain well to ensure he never let the cops catch him or his men red-handed. Trouble arises when Inspector Jaideep Majmudar (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is transferred to the city of Fatehpura, where Raees does his business.
Raees begins well - the childhood portions are quite interesting. In no time, Raees grows up and his entry scene is quite terrific! The manner in which he goes independent and sets up his own business makes for a great watch. The fun enhances as Majmudar enters the narrative. Raees-Majmudar's fight and dialogue-baazi is quite fun too. Moreover, there's also Aasiya (Mahira Khan) and her romance with Raees though not that great makes for a sweet watch. The pre-intermission scene is highly exciting. Post-intermission, the film changes gears since Raees changes gears in his life. And this is where the film slips. The film is still engaging but not as much as in the first half. The wow' factor goes missing. There are some clapworthy scenes in between, even in the pre-climax, which does enhance interest. The ending is justified but again, nothing too excited about it.
Shah Rukh Khan seems to be in great form in this film. He enjoys playing badass characters - whether it's Don or Raees. He looks cool when he mouths those clapworthy dialogues, makes plans to ensure his business doesn't suffer, romances with Aasiya and tries to defeat Majmudar. Mahira Khan (mentioned in the opening credits as Mahirah Khan) looks gorgeous and delivers a decent performance. Her character sadly doesn't have much to do. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (mentioned in the opening credits as Nawazuddin Siddique) is terrific and is as good as Shah Rukh. His entry sequence brings the house down. It's no easy task to get applause for dialogues in a film that stars SRK in a massy avatar after all! Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub (Sadiq) as always is great despite that he has played the hero's sidekick before. Atul Kulkarni looks fine and delivers a restrained performance. Narendra Jha (Mussa Bhai) looks quite convincing and rocks the show in a few sequences. The actors playing the chief minister and the opposition leader do good.
Ram Sampath's music is okay with not a single song that is memorable or will have a huge shelf life. Udi Udi Jaaye is the best followed by Laila. Zaalima is well shot but is forced in the narrative. K U Mohanan's cinematography is gritty and gives the film a nice touch. Action is a bit over the top but works. Rahul Dholakia, Harit Mehta, Ashish Vashi and Niraj Shukla's story is nice and well-researched. The characters are also quite good but the screenplay fails to do justice fully to them. Either the duration should have been shorter or something exciting should have been there in the film in the second half to make it exciting. We have seen several such gangster dramas in the past and Raees makers should have done something different. It does to an extent but it's not enough. Rahul Dholakia's direction is much better than his previous film Lamhaa but it's nothing extraordinary as such especially in the second half. He keeps viewers neatly engaged in the first half but not so in the second hour. Still, a great job and here's hoping he does better in his next films as he definitely has the potential!
Some of the best scenes:
1. Raees's childhood portion
2. Adult Raees's entry
3. Raees sets up his business
4. Entry of Aasiya and Majmudar
5. Raees takes water route
6. Action during Muharram
7. The song Laila'
8. Raees gets into action during opposition leader's yatra
9. Raees fights elections
10.The pre-climax
On the whole, Raees boasts of great performances by Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. SRK is in great form while Nawazuddin too manages to impress thoroughly with his quirks and dialogues. The film has interesting masale-daar moments that make for a great watch. But the film could have been better especially in the second half when the film gets a bit routine and ordinary. The dialogues of the film are highly addictive and one is bound to repeat or at least think about it for few days to come at least!
My rating - *** out of 5!
IANS January 25, 2017 Last Updated at 12:18 IST
Here's a film that unabashedly gives the Muslim community a new hero and gives Shah Rukh Khan fans a new high. If the promos promised you Baniya ka dimaag miyan Bhai ki daring', director Rahul Dholakia serves shovels of dimaag and daring for 143 minutes.
Also read: Shah Rukh Khan rode the Raees 'promotion express' from Mumbai to Delhi
With a disclaimer in place, one cannot question the Robin Hood characterisation of a criminal from the liquor mafia of Gujarat. So accept Raees without question from the moment he whips himself during Muharram, an entry that guarantees whistles. When Raees doesn't have the Chief Minister or a policeman in his pocket, his dimaag knows just how to hoodwink the law. He's done it since he was a schoolboy who ferried liquor in his schoolbag.
Also read: Pakistani actress Mahira Khan wants to promote Raees in India
Mahira Khan isn't the standard Hindi film beauty but the Pakistani actress has spunk and fits well into the mohalla as Aasiya. Her romance with Raees has charming moments as her man gets roadside Romeos to apologize to her with a touch of humor. And she announces the arrival of the stork in her own unique fashion, contributing to the right amount of emotions.
Of course, Nawazuddin Siddiqui as hard-nosed policeman Majmudar is the delight that he always is, making a comic entry at a party where he's actually come to bust the rampant bootlegging. His special brand of light-hearted seriousness has him whipping out a paper and pen for orders to come to him in writing, a witty trait that also finds him getting transferred with frequency.
Also read: Rakesh Roshan PRAISES Shah Rukh Khan's Raees Trailer
The mix of politics and crime is an old cocktail and it's no surprise when Raees is catapulted from crime to politics, the entire route strewn with blood. There's rawness in the action, like an intense fight scene in the meat market. Even the remix of Laila O Laila filmed on Sunny Leone comes against a backdrop of palace intrigue and bloody action. But Rahul Dholakia ensures that Raees comes off not as a don with blood on his hands but as a messiah of the masses, a secular man, an honorable criminal if such a term exists. If Raees had a hand in the landing of RDX that led to bomb blasts claiming innocent lives, he did it unwittingly and was filled with remorse for it, says Dholakia. You can't fault it, it's fiction.
The intense action gets musical relief from compositions like Udi Udi and Zaalima with an energetic Raees' as a background score during election time.
Shah Rukh Khan excels as Raees both in menace and romance with reliable support from other actors like Atul Kulkarni, Narendra Jha, and Zeeshan Ayub. The action and minority appeal may not be everybody's cup of tea but this is unapologetic masala cinema with plenty of crowd-appeasing one-liners plus humor at many turns. And since it's blatantly commercial, don't mind it if Raees who's practically blind without his glasses, forgets his spectacles in the action scenes and fights like Superman.
For a film that's well-packaged for the box-office, Raees gets a 3-star rating.
https://www.indiaforums.com/article/vash-level-2-review-a-rare-sequel-that-unsettles-in-the-best-way-and-lingers-long-after_226452...
https://x.com/vivekagnihotri/status/1946940660067803443...
https://x.com/UmairSandu/status/1954571916745794046
https://x.com/umairsandu/status/1954950592771895651?s=46 Tis is review thread ?
Tehran Reviews- John Abraham and Manushi Chillar...
10