Raees is an upcoming 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 is said to be based on criminal Abdul Latif's life, though the filmmakers deny this.better source needed] The film is scheduled to be released on 25 January 2017.
Raees is based on a real life character - underworld don Abdul Latif. "Latif played an important role in the decline of congress and growth of BJP in Gujarat, the state from where the don hailed." "BJP made the arrest of Latif an election issue. In 1995, BJP formed its own government and the same year later Latif was arrested in Delhi. He was lodged in Sabarmati Jail of Ahmedabad subsequently, and two years later, he was killed in an encounter when he tried to flee from the police custody." "The arrest and end of Latif’s terror was seen as a promise kept by the BJP and is seen as a major factor why BJP’s popularity and political power kept growing and Congress could never come back to power in Gujarat.
