Shah Rukh Khan is not the original Raees. Here's how his role seems inspired from a real-life Gujarati don

There’s a lot of buzz surrounding Raees trailer. Shah Rukh Khan is playing the role of a Gujarati don in the film. However, not many know that his character could actually be inspired from a real-life don called Abdul Latif who was Gujarat’s baddie during the 80s.

Who was Abdul Latif?

Latif was the resident of Popatiyawad town in Gujarat and was involved in bootlegging business since a very young age. He was also said to have relations with the underworld don Dawoon Ibrahim. Reports suggest that he was also involved in hawala and contract killings. Abdul Latif was also one of the initial prime suspects in the 1983 Mumbai serial bomb blasts. He was killed by Gujarat Police in the infamous Naroda Patiya encounter in 1997.

How is SRK’s character inspired by Latif?

While Latif was deemed as a serial baddie, the shades of Shah Rukh’s character will show him in a Robin Hood avatar. In other words, SRK will be playing a character with grey shades who has a justified reason for his illegal business. Abdul Latif’s had sued the actor along with producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar for allegedly showing their family in a bad light. They had also claimed that the team of the film had visited them initially to garner some facts about Abdul Latif. However, they were never told about the treatment that would be given to Latif’s life story.

According to a report in The Indian Express, there were 97 cases lodged against Latif in his life time. These cases were for bootlegging and serious offences under TADA. However, at no point he ran a brothel or used women for delivering liquor. By attributing such false claims in the movie trailer the respondents have defamed the family’s image in the society.

Will this effect Raees, the film?

Raees is one of the most anticipated Bollywood films. The release of the film got delayed a lot of times, making the fans much eager to watch the film now. This is also for the first time that the superstar will be seen in a character which is neither completely heroic not completely an anti-hero one. With such a perfect buzz around the trailer, there’s no reason why people will not flock to the theatres to watch the film.

Raees releases on 25 January, 2017.