Jan. 25, 2017|India|143 Min.|Not Rated
Genre: Action;Bollywood;Crime;Thriller
Description: “Raees,” released in 2017, is a Hindi film that spans from the mid-1960s to 1991. The story follows Raees (played by Shah Rukh Khan), a resident of Fatehpur, Gujarat, a state under alcohol prohibition. At a young age, Raees becomes involved in the illegal liquor trade, working alongside Sadiq (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) for a gangster named Jairaj (Atul Kulkarni), who smuggles alcohol by bribing the police. Guided by his mother’s philosophy—that no occupation is inferior and no religion is greater than work, as long as it harms no one—Raees eventually breaks away from Jairaj to establish his own bootlegging business. With assistance from Musabhai (Narendra Jha) in Mumbai, Raees expands his operations.
As Raees rises in the illegal trade, an honest police officer, Inspector J. A. Majmudar (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), is transferred to Fatehpur and launches a crackdown on alcohol dealers. Despite this, Raees, supported by Gujarat’s Chief Minister and a cunning politician named Pashabhai, uses his intelligence and resources to evade Majmudar and continue his trade. He even creates employment opportunities for women by hiring them to sew cloth bags, which double as a means to smuggle alcohol.
Raees marries Aasiya (Mahira Khan), and the couple welcomes a son named Faizan. Tensions escalate when Jairaj attempts to kill Raees, but Raees survives and retaliates by killing Jairaj. Raees later collaborates with the Chief Minister on a housing project, which involves removing illegal occupants from a plot of land. In the meantime, Majmudar is reassigned to the control room but begins tapping Raees’ phone calls. The story takes a turn when Raees confronts Pashabhai during an election campaign.
Cast director: Rahul Dholakia
Cast actor: Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sheeba Chaddha, Narendra Jha, Uday Tikekar, Anil Mange, Sunny Leone, Jaideep Ahlawat
Original name: रईस