Monday, February 6, 2017

Raees - Movie Review

I loved the subtext - of the beliefs Raees carries from the words of his mother. She says no business is too small to do and work is religion. The impressionable kid asks his mom if what she told the cop was true and she says - as long as you don't hurt anyone. The words become firmly entrenched int Raees's mind and he goes about doing his business like a religion. But hey, he also hurts a lot of people, kills many along the way - so why did he not think he was hurting anyone by killing or beating them up I wonder. Anyway small detail to worry about now since the movie has been watched.

The action scenes are out of the world. I mean for our Bollywood standards. The mutton market fight is absolutely brilliant, with blood, mutton cleavers, fresh flesh  and butchers. The chase of the shooter over the rooftops is incredibly well shot and looks like a Crouching Tiger scene the way Raees shinnies up the pipes. All action scenes that way - the way he moves to grab the guns that are at his head are comparable to Liam Neeson's stunts in Taken. Shahrukh Khan is all intensity, all Raees in this role with little time for romance. And to add to the feast there is Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the idealistic officer who wants all political instructions to be given in writing. Politics, communal riots, bombings - the story has it all. Though the film makers said it was a work of fiction it looks pretty close to the life of gangster Abdul Latif who was a big time bootlegger and then Dawood associate, close to politicians until his name was linked to the Bombay blasts and was subsequently shot by the Gujarat police in Ahmedabad where he ruled. His sons apparently contested against Shankersinh Vaghela in 2009 and 2014. Vaghela was the Chief Minister  when Latif was killed in the encounter.

Nice and action packed. But why sympathise with the chap who is happy murdering people, breaking the law etc etc. Anyway to go back to the subtext - the moment he realises that he has 'hurt' people unwittingly through the bomb blasts - the penny drops. Moral of the story - beliefs can kill you.

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