7th of August. 49 degrees centigrade in lava land Kuwait. I got all dressed up. Wearing my Heart excitement Guccis and my soul scented euphoria. It's finally My Hot Jab Harry Met Sejal Day! First time since years, i couldn't attent FDFS for a Shah Rukh Khan film. I had to travel between two continents to go live this unique experience of being trapped with him in a room for two hours and something. (not that a stuck in an elevator fantasy wouldn't do tho) but it was totally worth it! Nabokov said"Imagination is the muscle of the soul" and i have been excessively working out on that since i've known Him (sorry nabokov, not you i meant i hope u don't mind) Being His ardent Fan and lover i have seen all his endeavours, his ambitious projects, be it movies or even ads and he never failed to amaze me every single time! and i am the hardest to please. He digs out of his soul layers to deliver an out of his world performance that astonishes the artist in me more than the viewer. says a lot about the calibre of actor he actually is and i know the iceberg of his talent is yet to be scratched with all its nuances and flashing sparks. I am a tourist guide by profession. i lived The life of Harry the Punjabi Tour guide who has identity issues, homeless with a home in each city he thinks he knows by heart till he dreams and it turns into a nightmare. I Know about giving others of what you helplessly need. i do feel how it feels to wave a goodbye with a smiling please stay and i know how cold the wind howls in lonely streets afterwards. i felt the Harry in me growling with every still. He sells time and guides others to their ideas of fun in strange places, He understands the geography of the moments and the history of oblivion. Harry is a tourist guide based in Europe, extremely handsome and that is a treat (both for our eyes and the story) it's perfectly natural for girls traveling abroad in a group to get attracted to the sexy tour guide (and vice versa) they get this feeling of breaking free, doing all they can't do back home including boosting their feminine ego by trying to get his attention in a light way normally and they both know its temporary till the trip ends and in our beautiful case here till the ring is found (once i got a marriage proposal tho but of course i had to convince the french guy that the ancient Egyptian Gods will curse me to hell if i accepted so he took his ring back to his fiancee) it's a raw take on human behavious, i saw it in real life and lived it! mesmerized me how graciously both SRK and Imtiaz got to wholeheartedly unfold it the way they did. i got flashbacks of my life as a tourist guide with Harry and Sejal. it's stunning to me how Imtiaz Ali to whom i am a big fan could reach such deep layers of a difficult topics everytime! with so much lighthearted simplicity and fresh takes. His cadres are pure Art, paintings of emotions and passion. And we get to see unbuttoned shirted Shah Rukh Khan romancing His love in Cold Budapest with a warm smile giving us all kinds of feels and spine shivers (knowing he definitely had them too in his cold bitten bones) Harry is a ball of emotions rolling down the hill of a true love found after he thought he lost it to the yellow fields of Punjab. he is vulnerable to this feeling, he fought it with more indifference and sometimes even harshness and so did sejal, she keeps trying to get his affection as a selfish girl so full of herself playing with the fire of the seducing game until it burned them both to life. this void inside that no one could fill but the one who is seeking to. Harry got me completely, i wanted to hug his head when he woke up crying (there, i lost all my trials to professional here) i felt then a tear roll softly on my cold cheeck. i wish this scene was a bit longer. I saw his hidden desire blowing in his eyes with the mad wind that held him calling out for Sejal as she is sitting right behind him by that sea of turmoil. He knows she will leave like they all do and breaks his heart but who can stand in front of this silly emotion. even cheap Harry couldn't. he finally gave in to the mighty 'Sejal" Hurricane for there is a reason why they get named after people. I Particularly loved Lisbon cobblestones takes, this Fado song ate me
from inside. i still feel myself trembling till now at the silent tears
at this revelation moment. I liked the ring metaphor for everything we think we look for, we believe we seek and try hard to find tho it is the one seeking us, and we get found. the self discovery of our lost emotions or better the all the time in our heart bags that come out in the time we are ready to let them be. when we are aware of their existence but may be we don't need it anymore. the scene of Sejal watching Harry in the very beginning from her balcony is marvelous. how she knew by then something got tackled in her soul. he somehow touched her from all this distance, i enjoyed this fuzzy feeling of breaking open. Anushka took my breath away as Sejal, all the irritating silliness and sometimes rough attitude is well portrayed an so real for a girl who works with laws and regulations and knows she is about to break every single one. Shah Rukh Khan who brilliantly wore Harry is again not found! i didnt see a Raj or a Rahul in Jab Harry met Sejal. this is another new romantic perspective that he sensitively depicted.not many can get this top notch performance i understand. but i was in awe. how does he manage it? (He has a great manager! Ok sorry i couldn't help it :p) He gives birth to a new Him with every role, that is his power as an actor. He surprised me and as i claim to be a little familiar with the art of words, i was speechless before his eloquent eyes vocabulary. Jab Harry Met Sejal is a beautiful film. an enjoyable experience. A dose of light and romance and that we desperately need in these Bloody hard times. the picturesque locations are an element in all Imtiaz_Hair all over the place_ Ali that i personally look forward to, the magical captions of nature's beauty is his domain and he got all kinds of delights in this one hands down (including this smexy chest tattoo flashes that we needed a full close up of though) very good comic timings between Shah Rukh and Anushka. i laughed with these gangster scenes and loved how they managed the eyes language even then. The background score is just perfect! perhaps the best music Album i heard in so long! every song fits gloriously especially Yaadon mein and Ghar..i wish they can released in videos (with english subtitles please) I WAS in a dream watching jab harry met sejal. so much unspoken passion that took me to a world only Shah Rukh Khan CAN do. a fairytale i live with him everytime he breathes. a true blue romantic u are my love! you can deny it all u want but it's THERE! in those lil intimate gestures ur body screams even when ur lips are sealed. that moment when u asked Sejal to hug u, i wrapped both my arms tight and held u in a moment i took with me off the dark room. Only YOU could do that to a frightened, insecure, crazy, silly and confused to clarity poet. and if this is not success i donno what is. It's a film to be watched with heart eyes and felt with soul beats. we owe it to our tiered beings in this heartless universe. a fresh spring breeze in an endless emotionless winter. finally(i probably bored the hell out of u by now but bear with me please bec some words are stuck in my throat) ART is free, all u can do is to accept it. let it touch you in its own way, interpret it as it relatively move you no standards for that nor collections. Let yourself be driven to the power that pulls you, expect nothing but from your own will. Go for Jab Harry met Sejal with a heart, only then u can find what you seek, seeking you.
P.S. i took that (king) size bed with me too. u don't mind NE? I LOVE YOU Shah...Forever and beyond! A tour guide who would leave her life to runaway with Her "H(e)rry".
After 3 long shots of black Coffee i was finally getting ready to go, that too in black (but couldn't find a black Pathani unfortunately) kohl in my eyes, wearing my two long years of wait and a childlike excitement all over my senses. there is something definitely sensual about bad guys, these gangster types that makes a girl swoon. and when that baddy is Shah Rukh Khan you know you are in real trouble! with this daring surma in his eyes and baniye ka dimaagh of his beautiful mind. Raees hooked me. on my way i had flashbacks of the God father, Scarface (Obviously the Al Pacino effect) and All those old Hindi movies my mother and i used to watch on Thursday nights in our VCR, clap and whistle to all its surreal action that was totally unbelievable yet we bought them! then the moment came and Raees started narrating the story of a young boy who discovered he is shortsighted and largehearted. Raees tells the story of the bootlegger in a small town in Gujarat who made his way to Don the area and Corleone his opponents in a treat to watch Dhingana . We have the good cup Majumdar who is played by the magnificent Nawazuddin siddiqui who takes it to his heart that he will get Raees no matter what. a very subtle relationship grows between both of them almost a love story which to me was refreshing and interesting reminding us of Tom and Jerry in a way, both hating each other and yet don't leave each other alone as He himself said in a brilliant scene. The philosophy of belief, be it in whatever work one does or even in whatever faith one follows is the drive of this film. Raees believes after his mother's teachings that work no matter how small it is or big is important and Majumdar also believes that every work should be legal to be important, he also believes in doing his job the way it should be. It is all about belief. faith which place is the heart. Raees has that heart, it is easy to hate a killer and feel happy when justice prevails and good wins over evil but that was not the case with Raees. at least to me. it wasn't empathy either, i just felt immense admiration and full understanding, may be a lil love to this character, not because Shah Rukh Khan sexily portrayed him, but Raees has this quality, u can't hate him! in my at the moment gangster mind i cheered when he fired those who wanted to kill him or took his revenge from his betraying enemies. twisted much? may be but i respected Raees. there i said it! sue me! It is a dangerous thing to find in yourself a space to justify taking out souls or illegal business but i think somehow it opens the gates of humanity in our modern prejudiced souls. it reminds us that every saint has a past but every sinner has a future, Raees is too much human in that sense. Pure art Shah Rukh Khan scenes, his facial turns, muscles bursts, emotional details. a volcano of his talent erupted especially with himself. i felt a certain fine line of light there, like a revelation between the giving actor and his greedy character. a larger than even his king size life portrait it is indeed.
His love story with Aasiya came naturally breed in the tune of the film, his relationship with his best friend sadiq (pun intended), people of his area, how he helped them when they needed there are some Robin Hood moments that really touched my heart. Raees is not just a masala movie but i got so much intrigued with
its message and philosophy. He was not victimizing himself, he took responsibility of his actions, a thread of honesty that dragged those
looks in the cop's eyes in their last National Award kinda confrontation scene.
I normally go to Shah Rukh Khan movies with all my love,
extremely open to his entertainment and ready to absorb whatever his
magical presence in the film floods, may be a lil biased or a lot but i do believe that he has a deep well of potential that should be kept in artistic use. so glad lately this had been the case. i don't count film fates with BO numbers of course like the platonic Utopian vagabond poet that i am but i know some films live forever, Raees is one. Raees is a deep layered character that nobody in this world could've give it justice but Shah Rukh Khan the Theater actor who redefined himself in the most epic way. I kept looking for him in his face that i know by heart, in his voice even in his walk! but he was no where to be found! I forgot i was watching Shah Rukh Khan and that happened with me only with Fan. Dear Shah Rukh, i won't say that cliche of welcome back because to me you never leave, in every character u play, i find you but as an avid cinema lover, Raees is dominating! that much skill you have to completely un-skin yourself of your persona, that was a cheer bliss to watch! tells much about an actor of your caliber and it is not surprising. The action scenes superbly directed and got me at the edge of my seat especially that fight in the meat place and the rooftop chase i know how hard it is with a broken patella to even walk properly but there you are jumping all over and dancing Gharba! painfully impressive. Two years of hard work from all Raees Team paid off, Gotta salute Rahul Dholakia for carrying such a heavy weight film with so much confidence and Excel. The Camera was a second heroine in Raees, The magician KU Manmohan Shots delivered charming beauty to every frame. it was real, raw, intense like what it was capturing on celluloid. Achieving the crucial balance between the school of realism and the commercial popular masses cinema, Raees reached another level of finesse. as an audience it was engaging. another feather in the cap of this film makers. Mahira Khan is totally filling her role, sublime performance and handled her screen presence with Shah Rukh Khan exceptionally well! being a crazy fangirl like we all are i can imagine how much hard that was. she is a true discovery for me in Raees and it is a true loss they can't work together again! a unique innocence about her, Aasiya is the soul of Raees and Mahira got that. I saw him in Raanjhana and knew since that he is going to reach heights with his impressive presence He shined in his meaty role with the king of acting. His dilse pathang will Udi Udi jaye highest from now on, The splendid Mohamed Zeeshan Ayyoub. i am rooting for you! Nawazuddin Siddique is a bang on! as usual mastering his craft and adding to the usual role of the cop his unusual take. enjoyed the chase between him and Raees, their scenes together are the veins of the film. that sweets scene was fabulous, His quiet menacing tone is alluring, He is a great actor, knows his elements and renovating with every film, a stellar performance with SRK. and there you have that in writing too sir. Can't forget the enchanting music by Ram Sampath, the sequence in Laila is nothing but scintillating! saanson ke took my breath away and i donno why Udi Udi Jaye grew on me after watching the film! The pace is quite good, not one dull moment, lil slow post interval but picked up fast. the script is well written and respectfully researched. writers team take a bow for the top notch dialogues. Up to speed editing i must say, the film flowed with consistency and much ease. It was a roller coaster of brilliance, too emotional at the end
though. I never hold my tears, but this time i was sobbing like a baby.
it took me a while to calm down, a lot of walking and gratefully a good
bunch of calories burnt. Raees is a full entertainer with all vivid ingredients of a superhit with blockbuster written all over it. but it touched me deeply and made me think. It stayed with me. i think it is the ultimate success of any creative action if it reached a spot in the audience and stays there. i will carry Raees in my heart for a while. I just wonder my dear Shah Rukh, how many hours of rinsing did it take you to get this one off your skin?
From the seat of a viewer who got Raeesified on the 25th of January 2017 Rate: 100 stars
