Cast: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D’Cruz, Saurabh Shukla
Directed by: Raj Kumar Gupta
Produced by: Abhishek Pathak, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar
Production House: Panorama Studios, T-Series
Written by: Ritesh Shah
Cinematography: Alphonse Roy
Music: Amit Trivedi, Tanishk Bagchi
Genre: Crime Thriller
Plot:
Raid, which is set in the 1980’s, is a film about the most high-profile raids in the country. Fearless Income Tax Department officer Amay (Ajay Devgan) is an honest man and conducts a non-stop raid at the house of Lucknow’s most influential man Rameshwar Singh (Saurabh Shukla).The crux of the film is based on would he be able to conduct his raid successfully or bow down to bribes of politicians.
The movie is minded as a tribute to the unsung officers who are the protectors of the economy despite the widespread curse of corruption. Raid is all about the consequences a genuine income tax officer has to face being part of a completely corrupted and corroded system.
Movie Review: Raid is a movie which is basically focused on black money, sales tax, and exercise duty, evasion, money laundering, hawala rackets, etc. The movie appears to be realistic and as, unlike other Bollywood movies, the officer requires police protection. He doesn’t fly high in the air and thrashes the villain, rather he is often afraid to conduct the raid although he does not allow his fear to hamper his assignments.
Beautifully directed by “No One Killed Jessica” and “Aamir” fame Raj Kumar Gupta, the film tries to establish the hero in the beginning. A lot of time is wasted during this process which makes the movie unbearable. Some scenes like a dinnertime conversation between Amay and his wife Malini (Ileana D’Cruz) are enchanting.
The husband and wife refer to a short story of Munshi Premchand “Namak ka Daroga” and discuss the ever-relevant tale and its timelessness which ultimately points towards the issue that has been alive forever and isn’t going away anytime soon.
Ileana plays the role of a supportive wife who is a bit tired due to 49 transfers of his husband in 7 years but she is unable to cast a spell on her viewers through her character. We have already seen Saurabh Shukla in such roles before so we don’t find anything refreshing.
Our Verdict:
The direction of the movie is fine, the screenplay is also impressive but the movie is unable to keep a hold on viewers and appears loosely packed. The scenes are wonderfully written and perfectly placed in the flow of the narrative. If you are in a mood to watch a Bollywood movie which contains a lot of twists and turns then this movie is not for you as it is simply a cop and thief chase type of movie. Some scenes like the one in which the black money and gold are discovered in walls, are gripping and makes the movie a crime thriller. You can go to watch this movie if you want to have a thrill of action and crime.
