Review: Raees has superb performances but it should have been less heroic

Rahul Dholakia's movie is about a bootlegger in a Prohibition state in the 1970s and '80s

Raees is an epic gangster fable narrated at eye level. Rahul Dholakia’s movie is about a ruthless bootlegger who looms over his neighbourhood, city and state but manages to retain the characteristics of a streetsmart hoodlum whose only creed is money. Shah Rukh Khan’s entry as the eponymous champion of tipplers in Prohibition-restricted Gujarat in the 1970s and ’80 is on a human scale too. As he lacerates his back with a leather belt during a Muharram procession, Raees is first encountered as one in a crowd, but also different. He has endurance and courage and is comfortable with blood.