Trailer Review - Raees

Subduing all the controversies and delay, Red Chillies Entertainment and Excel Entertainment finally released the trailer of the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees on Wednesday afternoon. Directed by Rahul Dholakia, the movie is a biographical drama tracing the life of a well-known underworld figure, Abdul Latif. It also features the famous Pakistani actress Mahira Khan in the lead as well as Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Atul Kulkarni, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, and Sheeba Chadha in pivotal roles. Here is BollyCurry's take on the highly anticipated trailer.

 

The trailer shows the journey of an ambitious lad rising from the ashes of the ordinary to the immoral extraordinary. It opens with Khan's alluring voiceover, casually outlining the illegal trade across the coasts of Gujarat in the 80's. Well, how do we know what it bad without good? ACP Majumdar (Siddiqui) is hell bent on turning Raees Alam's (Khan) ascent upside down. But Raees never misses the opportunity to prove that he's here to conquer, and how. There are glimpses of a youthful romance, gangster politics and of course, a string of combat sequences intertwined into the three-minute long trailer climaxed by an item song picturised on Sunny Leone.

 

The film consists of a series of seasoned actors who have time and again proved their mettle. One cannot help but nod in discernment to the fact that Shah Rukh Khan is an actor who never fails to surprise the audience. He does have a history of portraying negative characters in the past such as Baazigar (1993), Darr (1993), and Anjaam (1994), and he keeps getting better, whether in terms of looks or his fierceness. Siddiqui is always a delight to watch, all credit to his effortless acting. BollyCurry was a little baffled at the screen-time assigned to debutante Mahira Khan, since there were rumours of her role being chopped off. Nevertheless, given the popular name that she is in the Pakistani industry, she radiates a refreshing vibe and brings in a calmness to the crime-based narration, but her chemistry with Khan definitely lacks spark. Despite few glances in the trailer, we're sure Kulkarni, Chaddha and Ayyub are going to do full justice to their characters.

 

Written by Dholakia, Harit Mehta, Ashish Vashi and Niraj Shukhla, the storyline of the movie is pretty evident, though one cannot deny tiny resemblances to Don (2006) and Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai (2010). Dholakia, who is accredited with critically acclaimed movies like Lamhaa (2007), puts up a satisfactory show with his direction. Considering the pretext of the film, Ram Sampath's music has nothing much to do in the trailer. K. U Mohanan's cinematography is commendable, especially the visuals of the old Gujarati locales and the garba sequences.

 

After not very successful stints at the box office in 2016, both Khan and Siddiqui are expected to announce "apna time shuru" and deliver top-notch performances in Raees. However, it is Khan's star-power and probably the intense subject that guarantees a tide of cinema-goers flooding the theatres on 25th January, 2017. BollyCurry rates the trailer a 4 out of 5 stars and hopes that the controversy surrounding Mahira Khan's association with the film does not affect its success. Comment below and let us know your views about the same!

  

Writer: Anushka J.

Editors: Dhanya S. and Jenifer A.

Graphics: Rifah K.