Quick answer: The most quoted lines from Raees (2017) are Shah Rukh Khan’s “Baniye ka dimaag aur Miyanbhai ki daring”, “Ammi jaan kehti thi, koi dhandha chhota nahi hota, aur dhande se bada koi dharam nahi hota” and the trailer’s closing “Saboot le aaiye, le jaaiye… Raees haazir hai”. Below are six of the film’s best-known lines with their meaning and the context in which Raees Alam says them.
About Raees and its dialogues
Raees is a Hindi crime drama directed by Rahul Dholakia and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Gauri Khan under Excel Entertainment and Red Chillies Entertainment. Shah Rukh Khan plays Raees Alam, a boy from a poor family in the town of Fatehpur in Gujarat, where alcohol is prohibited, who grows into the state’s most powerful bootlegger. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays ACP Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar, the honest police officer who spends years trying to bring him down, and Mahira Khan plays Raees’s wife, Aasiya. The writing credits go to Rahul Dholakia, Harit Mehta, Ashish Vashi and Niraj Shukla.
Many of the film’s best-remembered lines are built around the word dhandha (business), which Raees treats almost as a religion.
What this page said before release, and what happened
This page was first written in late 2016, before the film came out. It said the trailer would launch on 25 November 2016 alongside Dear Zindagi but had been pushed to December; the official trailer was released on 7 December 2016. It also said the film would release on 26 January 2017, the same day as Hrithik Roshan’s Kaabil. In the end both films were brought forward by a day and released on 25 January 2017.
An earlier version of this page also said Shah Rukh Khan played “Latif”, a liquor mafia don, in a film “based on true incidents”. His character is called Raees Alam. Media reports linked the story to the Gujarat bootlegger Abdul Latif, and his son reportedly sent the makers a legal notice in March 2016, but the makers denied that the film was based on Latif’s life.
For the full story of the film’s teaser, trailer, release and box office, see our page on the Raees trailer, news and release.
Best dialogues of Raees
1. Ammi jaan’s lesson about dhandha
“Ammi jaan kehti thi, koi dhandha chhota nahi hota, aur dhande se bada koi dharam nahi hota.”
(My mother used to say no business is small, and no religion is bigger than business.) This is the line Raees lives by. As the words say, it is his mother’s advice, and he turns it into his creed.
2. Baniye ka dimaag
“Baniye ka dimaag aur Miyanbhai ki daring.”
(A trader’s brain and Miyanbhai’s daring.) Raees, whom people call “Miyanbhai”, describes the mix that makes him successful: a merchant’s head for business with a gangster’s nerve. It became the film’s signature line on posters and social media.
3. The air of Gujarat
“Gujarat ki hawa mein vyapaar hai, saheb. Meri saans toh rok loge, lekin is hawa ko kaise rokoge?”
(There is business in the very air of Gujarat, sir. You can stop my breath, but how will you stop this air?) It is Raees’s answer to those trying to shut his trade down.
4. Right and wrong in business
“Jo dhande ke liye sahi, woh sahi. Jo dhande ke liye galat, woh galat. Isse zyada kabhi socha nahi.”
(Whatever is right for business is right. Whatever is wrong for business is wrong. I have never thought beyond that.) The line sums up Raees’s moral code, and the film later tests it when his business is used for something far worse than liquor.
5. Raees haazir hai
“Saboot le aaiye… le jaaiye… Raees haazir hai.”
(Bring the evidence and take me away. Raees is right here.) It is a challenge to the police to prove their case.
6. Aa raha hoon
“Aa raha hoon…”
(I am coming.) The shortest of the film’s famous lines, spoken as a warning.
Why these lines worked
The dialogues reminded many viewers of Shah Rukh Khan’s darker roles in Baazigar (1993) and Darr (1993), as the original version of this page pointed out. They work because each line is short and easy to repeat, and because Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Majmudar answers Raees with equally sharp lines of his own.
For more of the actor’s lines from other films, see our collection of Shah Rukh Khan’s popular dialogues. For the film that clashed with Raees at the box office, see our Kaabil dialogues, and for another 2016-17 favourite, the Dangal dialogues and box office.
Frequently asked questions
Who plays Raees in the film?
Shah Rukh Khan plays Raees Alam, a bootlegger in Gujarat whom people call “Miyanbhai”.
What is the most famous dialogue from Raees?
“Baniye ka dimaag aur Miyanbhai ki daring” is the most widely quoted, followed by “Ammi jaan kehti thi, koi dhandha chhota nahi hota…”.
When did Raees release?
Raees released on 25 January 2017, a day earlier than the Republic Day date first announced, on the same day as Kaabil.
Is Raees based on Abdul Latif?
The makers denied it. Media reports linked the story to the Gujarat bootlegger Abdul Latif, but the film’s character, Raees Alam, is fictional.
Who wrote the dialogues of Raees?
The film’s writing is credited to Rahul Dholakia, Harit Mehta, Ashish Vashi and Niraj Shukla.
Checked in November 2026 against the film’s credits and release record, and 2016-17 release coverage. Dialogue lines are short, widely published quotes from the film and its trailer.
1 comment
Raaes the other blockbuster hit by SRK……this movie has been shouted in Ahmedabad…during this movie SRK learn very nice Gujarati and learn to eat Veg food…hahahaha jokes apart, SRK has played very dashing role….in the movie it just a reflection of SRK as in..in real life he looks like a raees and in the movie he played the same role… for more info related Raees movie go to Bollywood Hungama here – http://bit.ly/2gUQShu