What happens when a young boy decides to rise to power right from his childhood and builds his own empire through illegal business? Find out from the review of Raees, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer.

Raees features Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mahira Khan and Atul Kulkarni in pivotal roles. It is directed by Rahul Dholakia and talks about the life of Raees (Shah Rukh Khan), who as a young kid learns about illegal business and shows a steady growth as a street smart illegal stock and liquor dealer as he matures.

The film is set in the state of Gujarat and is an action packed ride that would satisfy the SRK fans. Atul Kulkarni plays Shah Rukh’s boss for whom the latter works initially but later breaks off to start his own illegal business which marks the first main event of the film. From there on, there is an introduction of many important characters that includes a police officer played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The rest of the story talks about what happens between these two main characters Raees and Nawazuddin, the police officer. It is an all round mixture of action, mass moments, emotions, betrayal and a cat and mouse game.

The background music by Ram Sampath is an added bonus to Raees and its cinematography is also good, making it a technically strong film. Even though there is nothing to complain about the edit by Deepa Bhatia, there exists an overall lag in the film especially in the latter half as it’s course is disturbed by the placement of songs.

Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin carry the film on their shoulders with their strong performances. Mahira Khan who plays the female lead does not have much to do. The movie’s main drawbacks are its monotonous tone and unrealistic scenes that make it a proper hero-centric commercial flick. It is SRK all the way and the formidable nature of his character spoils the essence of the script for a critic or a non-fanatic.

Overall, Raees is a Shah Rukh Khan movie that is simply the life story of a gangster who starts from scratch and is majorly shouldered by the lead actors. With loosely packed action sequences and not a very engaging cat and mouse game, Raees lacks the punch that could’ve pushed it to the next level and made it an interesting watch for one and all.

Nevertheless, Raees would definitely satisfy fans of Shah Rukh Khan and those who don’t mind unrealistic entertainment.