Siraj Syed reviews Raees: Contentious content, alias “Don’t call me Battery”

Ra.One did it. Don 2 had done it. Raees, wherein he plays a Don once more, adds to his raeesy. Superstar ShahRukh Khan must be a happy man these days, heading in the right direction, hitting the road to Hitsville.Touted as the block-buster of the year, Raees, about a small-time bootlegger who wrangles his way to the top and becomes not only raees (Urdu for ‘rich’) but filthy rich, has nothing in it to merit the box-office billions it has reportedly earned. It is okayish at best, with numerous flaws, and is based on several false and contentious premises. While fans are in for a joy-ride, discerning viewers, by contrast, will be in a not so enviable plight, as they find the film much like a traffic square, green-lighting four different directions, along paths that sometimes intersect, but largely, run parallel. 

With four writers credited--Rahul Dholakia (also director), Harit Mehta, Ashish Vashi and Niraj Shukla (the debutant, from Ranchi, who is reported to have penned dialogue) this postulate becomes an even more plausible theory. One: Take a real-life criminal, with the age-old Robin Hood image, and pick exciting incidents from his life to string together into a screenplay. Two: Reference the religious and political angles of the time (1980-97) and incorporate them, to evoke mass appeal (it is said that in India, the largest selling commodities are politics, religion, films, sex and cricket; sex was apparently considered as an ingredient, in the shape of prostitution, which invited the wrath of the son of the real-life gangster whose life is the centre-point of the plot.(Mustafa maintained that his father Abdul Latif Shaikh did not run brothels, as was known to be a track in the story. As it turns out, sex trade does not feature in the list of criminal activities that Raees runs. Whether this is a result of some settlement with Mustafa or on the directives of the Central Board of Film Certification, or, who knows, a voluntary move by the makers, remains unknown. To be extra safe, the makers have consistently denied that the film is based on Latif’s life, in the first place).

Three: Work out a ruthless criminal v/s principled cop trope and pepper it with claptrap dialogue, casting a major actor, who is immensely talented and can upstage stars of no less a level of than the ruling triumvirate of Khans in a scene or two, yet pose no threat to the stars’ fan following and box-office draw. Four: Reference major Hollywood and Hindi gangster films, about liquor prohibition and rampant corruption among the police and the government, as well as songs of yesteryear that can be interpolated, with minor modifications.

After a potent mixture of these ‘failsafe’ ingredients is ready, sprinkle toppings in the shape of scenes that demand complete suspension of disbelief, and whistling, swooning, yelling fans to pull off. These include the watch and the ‘Apna time shuru (it’s my time now)’ scenes, the manner in which Raees uses a dancer’s hair-clip and his spectacle frame, not to mention his causing the literal burnout of the leader of a political party. Eureka! Box-office bonanza ensured. The odd critical stanza endured.

It will take some believing that Raees co-writer and director Rahul Dholakia (Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar, Lamhaa) is the same man who made Parzania (2005), which was, like Raees, based in Gujarat, and dwelt on the communal riots in the state, as referenced via a montage in Raees. Parzania won the National Award for Best Film, in 2006. Raees, 12 years later, has, by all accounts, won the International Lottery for its producers, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Gauri ShahRukh Khan. The innocents might be swayed, but the genuine critic has to apportion both credit and debit, though, admittedly, with so much plagiarism, one hesitates to give the film credit for a few clever scenes, lest the appreciation may turn out to be misplaced.

Shah Rukh Khan exudes a strong, sincere charm amid the gory goings-on, all the while carrying with him the trace of that indulgent sneer on his left cheek and jaw, and the affected, trade-mark dialogue delivery. Karachi-born VJ and 32 year-old Pakistani actress Mahira Khan as Aasiya, Raees' wife, looks like an odd mix of Shabana Azmi and Roopali Ganguly, and speaks in the Shabana mould. In an attempt to make the almost redundant character relevant, her part goes gaga romantic, not shy of over-the-top levels either. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Raees’s nemesis, Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar, is no different than any other smart cop doing the same things in similar films. Why he is shown in civilian clothes in nearly every scene is not explained. Oh yes, he is a gifted actor of the natural school, but he needs to rise above delivering tacky punch-lines and wagging his index-finger for effect.

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Sadiq, Raees's friend and confidante, and Narendra Jha as Moosabhai, turn-in high-rate performances. Jha, with his mix of Danny Denzongpa and Anang Desai looks, and rough cut persona, is a great piece of casting. Atul Kulkarni as Jairaj is as dependable as he always is. The amateurish attempt at comedy notwithstanding, Utkarsh Mazumdar, who is a native Gujarati speaker, is a natural for the Parsee doctor.

There is a palpable energy in Sheeba Chaddha (Raees’s mother) and a quiet dignity about Zakir Husain, as the senior police officer. Jaideep Ahlawat makes a convincing Nawab (Moosa’s lieutenant). Reading the names of the cast on various websites, it appears that 10-15 actors have had their entire roles chopped off, for reasons best known to the producers, and that the first cut of the film must have been at least 45 minutes longer than the 2 hours and 23 minutes they finally released. Survivors include Sunny Leone, who gyrates to the 1980 hit, ‘Laila maen Laila’ (try deleting that!).

Seats constantly vibrating to the Dolby Digital sound as the background score pounds away cyclic, ominous themes relentlessly, and the acoustics muffling a crucial line in the climax, which is not audible even when repeated, do not help the film. As the end credits roll out, your intellect challenges you on several counts. What was it all about? “Baniye ka dimaagh aor Miyanbhai kee daring” (a trader's mind and a Muslim’s daring) and “Koyee bhee dhandha chhota naheen hota, aor dhandheysey badhkar koyee dharm naheen hota (no trade is lowly and trade is above any religion)?” Even if these profound phrases were the pegs the story was to hang on, which itself is highly contentious, there is nothing in the movie to justify these lofty, and repetitive, declarations. And the entire track of Muslims mourning in Moharram, including self-flagellation, with an adversary choosing to plant a sniper on a root-top and target Raees precisely when he is surrounded by a hundred followers, is contrived and out of context.

Raees is a far from enriching experience. It is quite like the spurious liquor that Raees and his fellow bootleggers peddle. You get the kick alright, but the ‘good time’ is short-lived, while the hangover is protracted. While still under the influence, you could mull over questions like, “Weren’t Moosa (Moses) and Dawood (David) names of prophets? Weren’t the myopic students in your class called “Battery” because they wore glasses; and didn’t they respond with an emotion-charged retort, “Battery naheen bolneka!” (Don’t call me battery!)? Wish I could have given those rag-a-muffins the treatment when they did, a là Raees! Also, I must remember to get myself a steel stiletto frame, next time I change my spectacles. Can come quite handy.

Rating: ** ½

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When you view a film in a large auditorium, located inside a Grade II multiplex, amidst the ticket-buying crowd, eight days after its release, you get probably the truest taste of the dish. 

It was nostalgic, viewing the film at Bandra’s Gaiety G7 complex, along with 250-300 others, who occupied less than half the seats in the auditorium. Gaiety, Galaxy, Glamour and Gem were the fore-runners of the multiplex phenomenon that was to be the shape of cinemas, late 1990s onwards, in Mumbai, as it was in the rest of India and the world. The first two were regular, single screen structures, with Glamour and Gem as their smaller cousins, mainly used for previews and ‘trials’. It is now a seven cinema complex, with average admission rates in the range of $2. Snacks and ice cream are still sold at affordable prices, costing $0.5 per item. The nostalgia arose because this was my first visit to the theatre in about 20 years.

Raees was released across 3,500 screens, worldwide. Here’s what appears today (February 3) as a headline in the Times of India: “The film crossed the Rs 100 crore mark earned Rs 6.5 crore on its eighth day, taking the total to around Rs 115.51 crore. It has now surpassed the lifetime total collections of his (lead actor and co-producer, ShahRukh Khan) last hits, 'Don 2' and 'Ra.One', and is expected to beat the lifetime collection of 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' soon. The film crossed the Rs 200 crore mark worldwide, and is performing well in its second week.” Rival daily Indian Express writes, “Raees released on January 25, which was a Wednesday. The Shah Rukh Khan film has made over Rs 225.43 crore worldwide, and its India gross earnings stand at Rs 151.4 crore, till February 1.” (A crore is 10 million and the current rupee~dollar conversion rate is about Rs. 67=USD1.