Raid 2 movie review

 

Ajay Devgn film is so much dullness, so little fun.

The Ajay Devgn-starrer is wrapped in such a strong whiff of sameness that the first half comes off entirely superfluous. After a string of eye-glaze scenes in which Devgn and Riteish Deshmukh go at each other, you are left clutching at straws.

 Ajay Devgn is all set to make a comeback as the righteous Amay Patnaik. Ajay Devgn is all set to make a comeback as the righteous Amay Patnaik.

Seven years after the original ‘Raid’, IRS DCP Amay Patnaik (Ajay Devgn) returns to create yet another storm in a den of corruption. This time around, he’s in Bhoj, a town ruled by Dada Manohar Bhai (Riteish Deshmukh), whom the locals worship. Dada Bhai, in turn, worships, literally, at the feet of his Amma (Surpriya Pathak): he’s the obedient son, and the clean-as-a-whistle ruler.

It’s only Amay, the sharpest card in the income tax department, who suspects that there is something jet black in this very white ‘dal’, and starts stirring the pot vigorously, hoping for the real picture to emerge.

This is exactly what he did, with the help of his large army of colleagues, the last time around. Based on a real-life raid in the 80s, the original film’s predictable beats were leavened by some quirky characters, and a few scenes with an element of surprise, which you could count on your fingers.

And this is the template firmly in place for the return of the ‘Raid’ gang, with some of the familiar characters from the earlier film, and some new faces. Apart from Devgn, who reprises his role as the straight-arrow, transfer-prone income tax officer — seven years on, he’s still a deputy commissioner, proving that promotions and honesty don’t go hand in hand—Saurabh Shukla as the jail-bird Tauji, Amit Sial as Amay’s dodgy colleague Lallan Sudheer, are back.

The new faces, apart from Deshmukh, include Vaani Kapoor as Amay’s supportive wife, for whom the script keeps trying to find things to do, in and out of the house. Rajat Kapoor shows up as Amay’s boss who always bats for him. Supriya Pathak is a solid addition as Deshmukh’s mother. And there are a couple of interesting characters in the large supporting cast whom your eye rests on.

But despite these attempts, the film is wrapped in such a strong whiff of sameness — massive castle-like bastion guarded by lathi-wearing goons, convoys of official cars criss-crossing large empty spaces, heavy dialogue delivery, blaring background music — that the first half comes off entirely superfluous: why take so much time in a set-up when we know Amay and his habits already? Criss-cross sandals, collared shirts, check. Doughty and dour, check. Slo-mo walk leading his flock, haan bhai haan, wohich.
After a string of eye-glaze scenes in which Devgn and Deshmukh go at each other, you are left clutching at straws. Amongst the cast who seem to have got the memo — go extra, or go home — Sial, as the crafty IT officer, is a hoot. Yashpal Sharma as a lawyer-with-principles, ditto. And the thick-gold-chain-festooned Shukla, as corpulent and confident as ever, cracks you up every time he comes on.

The rest? So much dullness, so little fun.

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Raid 2
Raid 2 movie cast: Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Vaani Kapoor, Supriya Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Amit Sial, Brijendra Kala, Yashpal Sharma, Saurabh Shukla, Govind Namdeo, Tarun Gehlot
Raid 2 movie director: Raj Kumar Gupta
Raid 2 movie rating: 2 stars 💥💥