Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Raees and Kaabil) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Raees

Raees (English: Wealthy) is a 2017 Indian action crime thriller film directed by Rahul Dholakia and produced by Gauri Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under their banners Red Chillies Entertainment and Excel Entertainment. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Raees was said to be based on criminal Abdul Latif's life, though the filmmakers deny this, saying "The story of the film is a pure work of fiction, not based on any person; living or dead."

Raees is the fictitious story of a man named Raees, set in early 1980's to 1990's Gujarat, India. The film explores how Raees' relationships and meteoric rise helped him build an entire empire from scratch, to make him the single most powerful man in the state. Less of a gangster but more of an impresario, Raees gains popularity, a cult following and most importantly the public's trust by demonstrating entrepreneurial flair, unfettered determination to achieving his goals and ironically a heart of gold. His layered character traits encapsulate an inimitable blend of personas, making him revered, loved and feared. Always thinking ahead of the curve and using revolutionary ideas of management which were unheard of during his time, but are now doctrines for students, Raees eliminates every opposition that comes his way. However, his downfall will be crossing paths with the no-nonsense police officer Majumdar, whose sole reason for existence is the elimination of crime. What ensues next is a tumultuous battle between the two, which forms a key defining element of the film's narrative. Criticizing the prohibition of alcohol, prostitution and illegal drugs in Gujarat, this film unfolds the story of a cruel and clever bootlegger, whose business is challenged by a tough cop. Thus the film narrates the story of a man who builds an empire in the state of Gujarat, the only state that still follows prohibition. It's a story about his rise and his relationships, which help him become the single most powerful man in the state.

The film has Shah Rukh Khan as Raees, Mahira Khan as Aasiya, Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Superintendent of Police Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Raees's friend Sadiq, Atul Kulkarni, Sheeba Chaddha as Raees's mother and Sunny Leone as Guest appearance in song "Laila Main Laila".

Soundtrack album by Ram Sampath. The soundtrack was released by Zee Music Company. The song "Laila Main Laila" from the 1980 film Qurbani was written by Indeevar, and was originally composed by Kalyanji–Anandji, and it was sung by Kanchan, Amit Kumar, Chorus, has been recreated for the film Raees by composer Ram Sampath. Additional lyrics are written by Javed Akhtar. Thus the film has songs like "Laila Main Laila", "Zaalima", "Udi Udi Jaye", "Dhingana", "Enu Naam Che Raees", "Saanson Ke" and "Ghammar Ghammar".

Kaabil

Kaabil (English: Capable) is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Sanjay Gupta, written by Vijay Kumar Mishra, produced by Rakesh Roshan under his banner FilmKraft Productions. It features a love affair between two blind people, played by Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam. Music is composed by Rajesh Roshan.

The movie was reported to be inspired by 1989 movie Blind Fury with shades of 2014 Korean movie Broken.

This is the story of a man who lived, laughed and loved just like everyone in this world. Until one day, a terrible tragedy struck. Driven by the fire of vengeance, nothing will stop him. Not even the fact that he has been blind since birth. Specially-abled people often struggle with the system, particularly societal injustice and apathy. Few dare to confront their antagonists head on. But desperate times demand desperate measures. And so in Kaabil, that chosen one is Rohan Bhatnagar (Hrithik Roshan), who is blind and has an evolved sense of smell and directions. He is a terrific voice-over artist who takes mental notes of English dialogues and then translates them to Hindi in real time. His self deprecating humour doesn’t look absurd when he meets Supriya (Yami Gautam), also a visually impaired person, and declares ‘it’s love at first sight.’ They get married but don’t live happily ever after, because the local corporator Madhavrao Shellar’s (Ronit Roy) brother Amit (Rohit Roy) decides to take advantage of Supriya’s lack of sight. Kaabil begins to strike a chord here, because rape of people, including men and women, with special needs is something we often hear and read about. But can they strike back?

The film has Hrithik Roshan as Rohan Bhatnagar, Yami Gautam as Supriya Bhatnagar, Ronit Roy as Madhavrao Shellar, Rohit Roy as Amit Shellar, Narendra Jha, Suresh Menon, Md. Sahidur Rahaman, Girish Kulkarni and Urvashi Rautela (special appearance in song)

The music for the film is composed by Rajesh Roshan. Singer Jubin Nautiyal has sung three songs in the film. The film has songs like "Kaabil Hoon", "Haseeno Ka Deewana", "Kuch Din", "Mon Amour", "Kaabil Hoon" (Sad Version) and "Kisi Se Pyar Ho Jaye".