Raid (Social drama)
Critics Rating: 3.5 / 5
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D’Cruz, Saurabh Shukla
Direction: Raj Kumar Gupta
Duration: 1 hour, 52 minutes
Language: Hindi (U/A)
Story: Amay Patnaik (Ajay Devgn), a super-honest Income Tax officer, conducts a raid on the corrupt and connected Rameshwar Singh (Saurabh Shukla). But it seems as if Patnaik has signed his own death warrant. Will the IT official cave into pressure or will he romp home victorious?
Review: The film is based on material sourced from several true stories of IT raids conducted in Uttar Pradesh in the early ’80s. Ironically, Rameshwar’s residence ‘White House’, on the outskirts of Lucknow, is home to 420 crore of black money and Patnaik — a man with a steely reserve and squeaky clean reputation — who has received a tip-off, is determined to find the missing wealth. If you are idealistic, you can easily fall for Patnaik. He is the kind of hero who is badly needed to unleash a battle on corruption that our country is synonymous with. And you stay invested in him because it is our Utopian belief that with more Patnaiks, the system will be washed clean. Of course, Rameshwar has connections in high places, including the Prime Minister, no less. And he tries his level best to insult and intimidate Patnaik through strong-arm tactics.
Raj Kumar Gupta (Aamir, No One Killed Jessica, Ghanchakkar) returns to the big screen after a gap of five years. Mercifully, the hiatus hasn’t made him rusty. He manages to go through this taut drama with the requisite speed, but with very few real surprises. Also, he doesn’t inspire great performances. The supporting cast is a complete let down with most actors looking like they swallowed castor oil but are still constipated. With the exception of Ajay, there is not one noteworthy act. Ileana looks gorgeous in her sari and bindi avatar, but she overdoes her cuteness quotient. Instead of reacting like she is married to an IT officer, she behaves like she is married to a BSF jawan. One knows that the perils of both the jobs, but an actor still needs a certain subtlety to show the difference between a uniformed man facing a bullet and the plainclothesman biting the bullet.
Ritesh Shah’s dialogues provide some whistle-worthy lines and the dialogue lauding valour and values makes your chest puff up in pride. You are absolutely one with the hero in most situations and want him to win at any cost, especially because the likes of an absconding Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi make you feel really angry and cheated.
The romantic track between Ajay and Ileana is too orchestrated with the stock montages of them doing the usual shaving foam routine and some more blah stuff. But they luck out with the melodious tracks — Sanu Ek Pal Chain and Nit Khair Manga — composed by Tanishk Bagchi and sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, both of which have a haunting quality.
Verdict: Watch Raid because despite the corruption around us, we still believe we can win the war against black money hoarders. Also, watch it for Ajay Devgn’s intensity. He is sincere, relentless and doesn’t blink even once. One star in the rating is reserved only for him.
