Raees (2017) [Movie Review]


Dir: Rahul Dholakia
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan
Dur: 2 hrs 20 mins
Genre: Action-drama
Rating: 4/10

I had heard about the fuss created around this film. I was very curious to know what it was all about. I watched the trailer and realized it’s a beatdown style action flick with drama just for the sake of spicing things up. The film did very well at the box office and finished as the second highest grossing film of the year. To be honest, I cannot understand the fuss around the film. It is downright stupid. The entire plot is meaningless and the drama is forced. Everything seemed wrong in the film right from the choice of its setting to the finale. Yet how it managed to become a hit escapes me.
 
The film reveals the ugly underside of India. It makes an open mockery of Indian politics as well as the police force. There is an element of truth in what it depicts but the message it delivers is far from appealing. The setting of the entire film is Gujrat and the main theme of the film is liquor business. You see the faulty starting point? Imagine, if the start is going to be such, what’s in store?! I’ll be honest, it’s a mess and a poorly made one as well. The violence is absolutely unnecessary and exaggerated as usual. The romance is forced and out-of-place. Watch it and you will agree with me. The film actually has no place for a female character, but just to make the film watchable and to have a theme to create some songs, romance is required and so it is introduced. It has very little effect on the overall film and serves as little other than a distraction from the otherwise senseless plot and mind-numbing violence. A demon is divinized and a villain is painted as a hero. It is really sad that such a film has made it big. It reveals to a certain extent the cinematic Indian’s mindset and preference. Frankly, the film depressed me and left me with a very sour taste in the mouth. I hope to never see something like it ever again.     

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