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Watching Raees, a Bollywood movie loosely based on the life of Abdul Latif - a bootlegger in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It’s a Narcos-esque story, a troubling clusterfuck of money, alcohol, prohibition, laws, enforcement, violence, corruption, politics, gangs, community, society https://t.co/BNDIdx6ohV
It’s so easy to forget how much more critical the press was in a world before smartphone cameras and social media. It used to be possible to do things and have them covered up completely. Or it was easier, at least. Bringing a camera with you was a game changer https://t.co/dLi9QW9Ugu
The movie is technically well-made, but there’s something about it that rubs me the wrong way. I think it’s the visual vocabulary of the film - it uses all the conventional hero tropes and a popular actor to frame a protagonist in a way that’s a little too sympathetic and cool https://t.co/dTj3VwgH59
Raees claims to care about other people. He’s offended by the idea of using religious tensions to his advantage. But he’s also extremely irresponsible, repeatedly promising more than he can expect to deliver, and getting other people into trouble. Charismatic narcissist problems https://t.co/mpgi4AsTc0
I think looking back, the film does a great job of dishing out all these minor tropes and affectations - Raees & his childhood friend, Raees & his wife, Raees and his former mentor-turned-enemy - each bit is delivered to hit. But the spine of the narrative from A to Z is flimsy https://t.co/ZuUHMYjNyd
If I could do an edit: the heart of the story IMO is “good-hearted kid burnt by cruel society tries to make a better life for himself & his people, but in the process is further burnt by society and burns society in turn”. We should be examining the many injustices more closely
But instead I think the camera lingers too long on The Hero, maybe because that’s what audiences like. It should linger instead on the dilemmas, confusions and pains of the many people affected by the trajectory of this narrative. It does show them! But only fleeting glimpses :-( https://t.co/FVrVNmrwOS
