After being in making for past 2 years and being shelved for multiple reasons, "Raees" finally sees the light of the day. The trailer looked promising bringing back the 80's Bollywood era and so were the dialogue promos and the songs. Does "Raees" lives up to the mammoth expectations ? Well, it was almost there with few glitches and few engaging moments ...

Inspired by the true story of liquor don, Abdul Latif, who ruled Gujarat and even few parts of India, "Raees" tells the rags-to-rich tale of Raees Alam (played by Shah Rukh Khan) who faces the heat at the peak of his supremacy by a tough cop (played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

From the director of National Award winning,"Parzania" and "Lamha", Rahul Dholakia gives his first attempt at the commercial potboiler and is fairly successful. The film kicks off in 1970 showing how a small boy becomes a local bootlegger into full grown small time smuggler, Shah Rukh, who steals the scene with his entry and uses his tactics to setup his own independent liquor business. The film becomes an interesting watch, moment Nawazuddin enters the scene. His witty one-liners are impeccable and you will enjoy each and every moment of it. The first scene between Shah Rukh and Nawaz at the police station is good. The first half does have few tense moments to sail it through. With second half, the movie starts dragging and sometimes feel out of places.

The songs places hindrance to the flow of the film while action scenes looks tacky. The screenplay loses the track and becomes a typical melodrama in the later half of the film with new to offer. This is definitely not the best work from Rahul Dholakia carrying huge expectations. Even barring the tuneful and well-choreographed "Udi Udi", none of the songs will be memorable once you leave the theater. I loved the original version of "Laila" featuring Zeenat Aman from "Qurbani". Editing could have more crispy.

What works is admirable cinematography and fine art direction. The dialogues are simply mind blowing especially "Koi Bhi Dhanda Chotha Nahi Hota". Coming to the performances, Shah Rukh Khan makes a good comeback. The superstar steals the show with his daring avatar speaking much through his eyes and expressing appropriately. Watch for him in the climax scene. Nawazuddin is outstanding. The supremely talented actor gets much chance to show case his talent and he does it with aplomb. Mahira Khan is just about okay. Talents like Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub and Atul Kulkarni are wasted due to under-written roles.

Overall, "Raaes" is watchable only once for electrifying performances by Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Decent 2.75/5

• Ketan Gupta

Every Sharukh Khan release is an event in itself, RAAES is no different. Most of the characters the Khan had been portraying in the recent past have been disappointing to his fans…even the much admired Jahingar Khan of Hello Zindagi was not of much satisfaction due to the limited screen time. And now Raees is something his fans had been waiting and praying that it would tip the balance of fortune towards their much loved star

And yes….from the word go, we know a masterpiece is unfolding on the screen. Though the story is not new..a rise and fall of a righteous don has been done to death in Bollywood from times immemorial, but what sets Raees apart is Sharukh Khan, his performance and the amazing screenplay.

Jaideep Majumdar (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) reminiscences his tryst with bootlegger Raees (Sharukh Khan) way back in the 90's. Raees story unfolds right from his childhood where he is touchy about his short sight (has to wear glasses) and people calling him "battery" due to this impairment. His Ammi (Sheeba Chaddha) is his greatest influence and her words "business is bigger than religion as long as it does not harm anyone" remains in his mind and starts working for a local don (Atul Kulkarni).

Raees once when he is old enough decides to start his own business and miffs the don and joins hands with a Mumbai don Moosa who funds Raees's bootlegging business.

Raees falls in love and gets married to Aasiya (Mahira Khan) and soon becomes a father. His rise disturbs the local don who tries killing Raees and fails and ends up getting killed by him.

Jaideep Majumdar, a honest police officer is hot on the trail of Raees and uses every method at his disposal to bring Raees down, but he is unsuccessful as Raees has the support of both the ruling and the opposition party.

But soon, Raees's ego makes him a commit one fatal error which turns things in favor of Majumdar…..

Sharukh is back to doing what he does best, hogging the screen time and also giving one of his career's best performances, his ire when called Battery, or when he is weeping away to glory in his wife's arms after a major setback or his astounding performance in the climax undoubtedly proves the crown is still his.

Mahira Khan performs well in what little screen time she has, as the only person who gets away after making fun of Raees's short sight. Wish she had more screen time.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is wow as Jaideep Majumdar, the scenes involving him intimidating his superiors, or the several faceoffs with Raees showcase his talent.

Sunny Leone brings the house down with the peppy item LAILA and her tumka's are well synchronized to the beats

K U Mohanan's Cinematography captures rustic Gujrat at its best, the filters highlighting the era in which the film is based

Deepa Bhatia's editing ensures the movie does not drag and uses the scissors the right way in making the film crispy and entertaining.

Rahul Dholakia's direction is top notch and it is not a mean task handling two live wires Sharukh and Nawazuddin together, but he has managed to extract the best possible scenes involving both of them. He has also managed to recreate the 70-90's era with just the right touches

Watch it if you are a hardcore Sharukh khan and also if you have a major crush on Sunny Leone and also if you have been missing the wonderful action sequences of the 80's.

.As an American, I was a bit surprised when I watched "Raees". I had no idea that Gujarat or any of the other Indian states had prohibition. I guess it makes sense, as a few counties in American states still have various forms of prohibition. But as an American, I instinctively worry about prohibition because it went so poorly here...and encouraged organized crime...much like you see in this film.

The story is a reworking of the life of Abdul Latif*, a huge figure in the Gujarat underworld in the 80s and 90s. But, because the filmmakers didn't want to be sued, they changed names and say in the prologue that the film is total fiction...though Latif's family didn't take it that way!

The story starts with Raees (Shah Rukh Khan) as a boy. He is making bootleg (and often poisonous) alcohol to support his family. But when the business is effectively shut down, the boy switches and begins transporting bottles of liquor for an underworld boss. The film shows Raees' career as he moves up in the industry until, ultimately, he's in charge of liquor in the state. Not surprisingly, the journey is a very violent one...and in true Indian film fashion, it also includes a love story and dancing....something you don't see in all Indian films but likely in all of SRK's movies.

So is it any good? Naturally. SRK's other crime films are very well made...though violent and not the sort of faire all his fans want. I know a huge SRK fan who adores his films, but cannot take all the blood and gore of his crime films...and this one does have quite a bit. It isn't so much that I am complaining...just that you should know this before watching.

In some ways, this film is a lot like SRK's "Don" films...minus all the special effects and improbability. Instead, it's more realistic and gritty...mostly because it was based on a real person (though the filmmakers deny this). And, in the film Raess is more like a hyper-violent Robin Hood-like guy...he murders and punches...but also has a soft spot for the downtrodden. I have no idea if Abdul Latif was like that in any way.

Overall, this is an excellent crime film...but not one for the faint-hearted! It is violent and intense...as most crime films are expected to be.

*Abdul Latif should NOT be mistaken for Abdul Latif Sharif, an Egyptian-Mexican criminal and mass murderer...who made Abdul Latif look like a pussycat..though Latif was a terrorist and murderer linked to some bombings. Unlike Latif, there is NOTHING good that can be said about Sharif...one of the most brutal and evil men of our time. Both, incidentally, were killed some time ago.