Raid 2 Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating

Director: Raj Kumar Gupta

Raid 2 Movie Review Synopsis:
RAID 2 is the story of an honest officer and a corrupt-cum-shrewd politician. The year is 1989. Income Tax Officer Amay Patnaik (Ajay Devgn) raids the palace of Raja Kunwar (Govind Namdeo) in Jaipur and confiscates truckloads of black money. Raja’s manager offers a bribe and surprisingly, Amay accepts the offer. He gets caught and is transferred to Bhoj. The town is ruled by Manohar Dhankar aka Dada Bhai (Riteish Deshmukh). He’s also a cabinet minister and is seen as a philanthropist. Hence, the residents of Bhoj worship him and are ready to go to any lengths for him. Amay is surprised to see that he’s unable to find a single clue of money hoarding or corruption against Dada Bhai or any other resident. Realizing that something is fishy, Amay starts looking around and interacts with the local residents to find out more information. Soon, he comes across evidence that makes it clear that Dada Bhai is corrupt. Amay’s senior Anjani Kaul (Rajat Kapoor) approves the raid. Amay and his team of officers at the Income Tax Department, Bhoj commence the raid at Dada Bhai’s residence, office, and a five-star property. Amay is confident that he’ll find a lot of black money hidden in his properties. Sadly, he’s unable to find a single instance of unaccounted money. Amay soon realizes that Dada Bhai is possibly the shrewdest corrupt suspect that he has come across. Amay is compelled to change his strategies so that he can expose Dada Bhai. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Raid 2 Movie Story Review:
Ritesh Shah, Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav and Karan Vyas’s story is one level up compared to the first part, RAID [2018]. Ritesh Shah, Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav and Karan Vyas’s screenplay is captivating and is peppered with some entertaining and dramatic moments. In a few places, however, the writing could have been tighter. Ritesh Shah, Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav, and Karan Vyas’s dialogues are witty and add to the humour quotient.

Raj Kumar Gupta’s direction is simple. He also makes sure that the film has enough commercial value so that it can reach out to a large section of the audience. He also has a certain sensibility, which he doesn’t compromise on. The balance achieved is praiseworthy. He has chosen an intriguing plot. The challenges Amay faces this time are a lot more, as the antagonist is way more sharp-minded and a genius compared to the villain in the first part. The character of the mother (Supriya Pathak Kapur) and the depiction of Sushma Jankalyan Foundation stand out. The first half is decent and Raj Kumar Gupta reserves the best for the second half. This is where the film shows his true brilliance.

On the flipside, Dada Bhai’s rise in politics seems unconvincing and sudden. One can understand him winning the local election and maybe becoming a minister in the state government. Instead, he is catapulted as a central cabinet minister! The interest levels dip in the first half. Even the investigation of Amay Patnaik in the post-interval portions, though important to the film, doesn’t excite the audience much. The character of Punit Sahni (the Sardar batchmate of Amay; played by Sandeep Kapoor) fails to make a mark. The character of Raja Kunwar is introduced in a dramatic fashion, but hardly has anything to do.

RAID 2 begins on a fine note. Amay’s entry is predictable, but nevertheless, it works well. Dada Bhai’s entry is even more dramatic, and it’s a very unusual intro scene for a villain. The scene where Amay meets the Bhoj office colleagues is interesting. The interest then rises once Amay conducts the raid. The intermission point promises a smashing second half. The second half commences well with an item number. The film then falls and thankfully, gets better with the entry of Lallan Sudheer (Amit Sial). From here, the film remains steady. The climax is the best part of the enterprise and would be greeted with applause.

Raid 2 (Trailer): Ajay Devgn | Riteish Deshmukh | Vaani Kapoor

Raid 2 Movie Review Performances:
Ajay Devgn is in his element yet again. He keeps his act restrained and that works for his character. However, in a few scenes, his dialogues are not audible. Riteish Deshmukh is terrific and does complete justice to the part of the antagonist. In several scenes, his eyes do all the talking, which is also quite commendable. After EK VILLAIN [2014], the actor proves yet again that he’s versatile and that filmmakers should see him in roles beyond comedy as well. Vaani Kapoor (Malini) hardly has anything to do. Amit Sial is the surprise package and contributes immensely to the laughter quotient. Performance-wise, he’s first-rate. Another scene stealer in the film is Shruti Pandey (Geeta ji). Supriya Pathak Kapur plays a crucial character and is lovely. Rajat Kapoor lends able support. Saurabh Shukla (Rameshwar Singh aka Tauji) is great. However, his character barely has much to do. The same goes for Govind Namdeo. Yashpal Sharma (Devinder Gehlot) does well, as always. However, one expects more from him because of the way his character was introduced. Pritisha Srivastava (Mini) is cute. Sanjeev Jhori (Ashok), Brijendra Kala (Vinay Bakaya) and Ayushi Neema (Anita) lend able support. Samayar Singh (Vikram Ghadiyal) and Ikram Khan (Kamal Chauhan; IAS officer) are okay. Tamannaah Bhatia is sizzling.

Raid 2 movie music and other technical aspects:
‘Kamle’ and ‘Tumhe Dillagi’ fail to impress and act as speed breakers. ‘Nasha’ is catchy and will be loved by the front benchers. ‘Money Money’, played during the end credits, is also enticing. Amit Trivedi’s background score (additional background score by Amar Mohile) is one of the strong points of the film.

Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary’s cinematography is satisfactory. Rita Ghosh’s production design is in sync with the bygone era. Naveen Shetty, Mehak Shetty and Priyanka Castelino’s costumes are realistic. The same goes for R P Yadav’s action. Sandeep Francis’s editing could have been sharper in the first half.

Raid 2 Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, RAID 2 makes a strong and enduring impact, driven by its gripping drama, a formidable antagonist, and a second half that strikes an engaging balance between entertainment and intensity – culminating in a climactic sequence that stands out as the film’s crowning achievement. At the box office, the film is well-positioned to capitalize on a four-day weekend and the advantage of minimal competition in the immediate release calendar.