Is 'Raees' the 'Businessman' of Bollywood? Is the director Rahul Dholakia out to do a Puri Jagannadh? Are the audience going to see a gangster-terrorist being lionized through the character played by Shah Rukh Khan just as Mahesh Babu donned the role of an eulogized terrorist in 'Businessman'?

As is known, SRK's character in the Jan 25 release 'Raees' is allegedly fashioned after a real-life extortionist-terrorist. Abdul Latif, a gangster who lived in Gujarat through 1980s and 1990s, is said to be the inspiration for the character of Raees Alam. Latif was no ordinary gangster, as he was someone who made even Dawood Ibrahim sit up and think of collaborating with. Certain investigative reports have also established that Latif was one of the conspirators of the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

To draw a parallel, in 'Businessman', Surya (Mahesh) terrorizes the people into paying taxes to him, rigs the elections, installs his yes man as Prime Minister, all in the name of aiming for the eleventh mile! Puri unapologetically portrayed such a character as some sort of role model, all in the name of entertainment.

Given the history of Indian cinema, where criminal elements have been portrayed as admirable characters when essayed by stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Mahesh, is SRK going to be the next scandalous icon in a movie?