8 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
Last updated on - Jan 25, 2018, 13:49 ISTShare fbsharetwsharepinshare
01/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
One of the best performance Shah Rukh Khan, he was just fantastic in the film. It was for the first time that we saw Shah Rukh in a crime action film. For the longest time, we haven’t seen the king khan play such a different role in a film. The romance was also there because where there is Shah Rukh there is romance always. The film did well at the box office as well. It also clashed with ‘Kaabil’ starring Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam. There were a lot of speculations about the Pakistani actress in ‘Raees’ Mahira Khan due to political reasons, she was brilliant in the film, she was a perfect match for Shah Rukh Khan and they had a sizzling chemistry on screen as well. The movie was in the news that as there was tension between India and Pakistan during the release of the film. The film is based on a real-life character. Take a look at some of the lesser-known facts about ‘Raees’.
02/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
It was seen during the initial posters of the film that Farhan Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan will share the screen space together, but later it was known that the poster was made by the fans and it was Nawazuddin Siddiqui who played opposite Shah Rukh Khan. Initially, Farhan was asked to play the cop in the film but later he opted out of the film as he had done a similar role in his film ‘Wazir’. Later it was offered to Nawazuddin Siddiqui. He plays the role of an honest police officer of the IPS cadre, J. A. Majmudar (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) gets transferred to Fatehpur and starts a major crackdown on alcohol dealers. Majmudar gets transferred back to Fatehpura. Communal riots break out in the state. Considering Raees a threat, the CM puts the housing project in the green zone. Raees suddenly finds himself broke with all his money dwindled on the housing project, elections and dispatching food supplies during riots.
03/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
Months after the release of Rahul Dholakia’s ‘Raees’ starring Shah Rukh Khan and Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, the director shared one of the deleted scenes on his Twitter account. The scene in question shows SRK’s character sharing a sweet moment with his wife Aasiya (Mahira Khan) and their newborn son. When SRK’s character Raees tries to pacify his newborn child who is wailing, Mahira offers to help and takes the child in her arms. What follows is a warm moment between the trio. Rahul posted the video with the caption, “This was the first scene after intermission to establish Raees as a father and his new rise.” The director also shared another deleted scene from the movie, in which Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character Majmudar raids Raees’ workplace. Rahul tweeted, “One of my most favourite scene- all departments excelled; was a very very tough call to edit it out! Scene hazir hai.”
04/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
The film is based on real-life story and characters as well. ‘Raees’ was said to be based on criminal Abdul Latif's life. However, the filmmakers denied this, stating, "The story of the film is a pure work of fiction, not based on any person; living or dead." The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2017. The shooting of the film began in April 2015.The film has been shot in Mumbai, and sets were re-designed to depict Ahmedabad slums.The last schedule of the film was shot in Gujarat in January 2016.Despite protests, the film was shot in Bhuj without disruptions between January and February 2016.
05/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
The film was scheduled to be released on Eid, 6 July 2016, but was postponed to avoid box office competition with Salman Khan starrer ‘Sultan’. The film was then rescheduled to be released on 26 January 2017, India's Republic Day, which conflicted with Hrithik Roshan starrer ‘Kaabil’, but then both films were moved to 25 January 2017. ‘Raees’ opened to 3500 screens worldwide. It also received appreciation as well, "This isn't a fine film. It's vintage Bollywood fluff, which SRK will manage to turn into box-office gold." and, "’Raees’ is the story of neither a hero nor a villain – it is the story of a man who lived in a corrupted system with corrupted morals."
06/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
Farhan Akhtar, co-producer of ‘Raees’ was threatened by MNS. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra and member of the BJP and the RSS, Devendra Fadnavis said at the meeting with MNS and the producers ₹5 crore as contribution to the Indian Army welfare fund was not quoted compulsory and was never a condition for lifting ban on films featuring Pakistani actors demanded by MNS, and earlier at an event praised Shah Rukh Khan as an "icon" and a "proud Mumbaikar". There was a clearance issue by Archaeological Survey of India for shooting at Ahmedabad at the ancient mosque and tomb complex, Sarkhej Roza. In March 2016, a legal notice was sent by an alleged gangster, Abdul Latif's son, Mustak, asking how or why a film on his father's life is being made. A few days after the 2016 Uri terror attack, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) asked for a ban on films featuring Pakistani actors on the basis that the actors were not openly condemning terrorism. MNS put forward a condition to lift up the ban, those producers shall never cast Pakistani artistes in future and they have to give ₹5 crore as penance to the Indian Army welfare fund, but Indian Army refused to accept it by saying sacrifices should not be politicised. Later, the ban was lifted without the conditions on 'Raees' as demanded by MNS.
07/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
Ankita Shorey was the first choice for the female lead of the film, but Mahira Khan got the role, Ankita Shorey confirmed that the consideration was not due to the nationality. Ankita Shorey later stated that she did not speak about replacement, and did not spell part of the project phrase in her last interview regarding ‘Raees’, the actual phrase was "strongly considered for the project", the journalist who took her interview apologised for it. Farhan Akhtar clearly stated that Mahira Khan is in the film like before and nothing has been changed for her part, and the film is ready to release, he further said that if they started the whole film shooting after the terror attack then they would never have signed her depending on the present situation, and concluded by saying showing solidarity to Indian Army is up to them, and only Indian government has the authority to brief them regarding dealing with their conscience, and not by any outsiders.
08/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
This was the first biographical film for Shah Rukh Khan in 20 years. Yes for the first time he has portrayed such a character on screen. He has worked in the movies for the longest time but most of his films were romantic and family-oriented films. Earlier during the beginning of his career, he was recognised for portraying villainous roles in the films ‘Darr’, ‘Baazigar’ and ‘Anjaam’. King Khan had done a film based on a true-life event. His role in this film is that Raees played by Shah Rukh lives in Gujarat, a state where Prohibition is in force and gets involved in illegal liquor trade at a very young age. Along with Sadiq (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), Raees works for a gangster Jairaj (Atul Kulkarni), who smuggles alcohol illegally by bribing the police. Raees lives by the philosophy of his mother that every occupation is good, and no religion is greater than any occupation as long as it does not cause any harm to anyone. He decides to part ways with Jairaj and starts operating on his own. He meets Musabhai (Narendra Jha) in Mumbai, and with his help, he starts his bootlegging business.
09/98 unknown facts about Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’
The superstar had decided to unveil the trailer of his film ‘Raees’ on his birthday. Every year, SRK celebrates the day with the media at his bungalow in Bandra and Shah Rukh that time he will take the opportunity to present the trailer to them. Post this; he launched the trailer on social media the same afternoon. So why isn’t he going the traditional route of attaching his film’s trailer with a big banner release? SRK’s sharp business acumen at work, you see. On the other hand, Hrithik Roshan, whose ‘Kaabil’ is clashing with ‘Raees’ at the box-office on January 26 next year, will attach the movie’s trailer to this year’s biggies – ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Shivaay’. SRK feels that it will be best for him if he launches his film’s trailer only after the hype around the trailers of ‘Dangal’ and ‘Kaabil’ has died out. Isn’t it a brilliant idea? Shah Rukh always comes out with some innovative ideas for his films.
