Raid

After watching films like Aamir, No One Killed Jessica and even the experimental Ghanchakkar, I have been an ardent fan of Raj Kumar Gupta's work. The trailer of Raid itself gives you goosebumps and makes it to my watch list of must-see films this year. Will it do justice to the audience, let us find out ..

Raid talks about one of high-profile case set in 1980's where an Income Tax Officer (Ajay Devgan) investigates the most powerful man of Lucknow, Rameshwar Singh aka Tauji (Saurabh Shukla).

I have personally witnessed raids and can vouch for right tone set by Raj Kumar Gupta where group of 20-something Income Tax officer follows the procedure of raiding the big shot. We are introduced to the character of Ajay Devgan, Amay Patnaik, who has been transferred 49 times before following his duty with honesty. The party scene where he meets Saurabh Shukla is well-laid out but the film catches the steam when Amay Patnaik gets a tip-off that there is sum of 420 crores being hidden at Tauji's premises. The film will grab your attention as Amay chalks out the plan and builds his army to raid Tauji's house. After number of failed attempts, Amay finally cracks the case and discovers the wealth hidden in different parts of the house. The second half rolls out when Tauji threatens Amay and his team by local mob attacks which is well-executed. Climax, which becomes a crucial part , loses the steam little bit and could have been better made.

Raj Kumar Gupta has done a good job in preparing the characters and keeping you engaged. There are several moments in the film that shines and even clap worthy. The diaologue-baazi between Ajay Devgan and Saurabh Shukla is superb while few humor in this serious film do stand out. However, the songs are misplaced and not tuneful. The narratives seems sometimes stretch and screenplay loses the mark somewhere in between. On the other side, cinematography and art direction is superb while dialogues are mindblowing. Background score by Amit Trivedi is well-placed with each scenes. Performances in the film are good. Ajay Devgan does well as serious and honest officer. Saurabh Shukla is just getting better with each film. The character he plays is somewhat similar to the one in "Kaun Kitney Paani Mein" (should watch this film) though he is little serious in this one. However, the actor who plays Tauji's character, Pushpa Joshi, steals the show. You will laugh out loud the moment she speaks her dialogue. I wish she could have more scenes.

Overall, Raid is a good attempt to show the corrupted politicians and businessmen looting public's money. Go for it. Good 3/5

Raid has been one of those movies where the script and the plot demand it to be kept short. Raj kumar Gupta knew it very well and with a run time of 122 mins he decided not to be over ambitious. The entire movie is based upon a single raid and 80% of the movie is shot in a single house. Therefore it was a herculean task to keep the movie interesting. Raj kumar Gupta has been able to keep the audience hooked through the earnest performances of his lead and supporting actors. The dialogues seemed real and were not over filmy. Despite being an entertaining watch there are some noteworthy flaws in the writing and it is not easy to ignore them. For instance, in the first half Ajay Devgan and his team could not find any of the black money but as soon they found the first lot, they started finding the money from very part of the house. These are some of the glitches but overall it is a nice watch if you can ignore them

All things considered, leading the greatest raid ain't a simple thing as the authorities uncovering gold coins and unbounded notes from divider roofs, sewers et cetera. Yet, it gets repetitive when all that the story sticks to is demonstrating the raid unfurl gradually. While there were a couple of scenes that evoked chuckles and applauds, the plot didn't appear to have anything different. Likewise, IT officials directing the raid obediently reminded us of Neeraj Pandey's 'Special 26' where Akshay Kumar held the reins. Be that as it may, this raid does not have a similar profundity and power and just restricts itself to seem to be a verbal contention between a genuine IT officer and a degenerate lawmaker. You can foresee the result and that itself is the place the story misses out on some brownie points. While Ajay Devgn's turn as the courageous IT officer may inspire his fans, we believe it about time he reevaluates himself. On a parting note , don't go in expecting something much excessively charming, yet keep your ears open for some great dialogues!

Very good content explaining, on & around rules of an actuall Raid. As it shows how a TAX fraud tries to protect his family wealth Obscenely..!

Raid is a film directed by Rajkumar Gupta. After watching the trailer I felt I had to just watch this film as it was the comeback of Ajay Devgn to do something substantial. After watching, it felt like it ticked all the boxes for me.

Plot: Amay Patnaik, an IRS officer decides to raid the home of Rameshwar Singh, an MP in one of the longest raids in the history of India.

Story and direction: This film is written by Ritesh Shah who has written some good films in the recent times. The script is the strongest thing in this entire film. Being 128 minutes long the film never feels dragged and unnecessary. Some of the dialogues of this film are very good. The comedy in the film too is very subtle and doesn't go overboard. The story gives a chance for the lead characters to shine and that is the strongest point of the screenplay. Kudos to Rajkumar Gupta and team, for making this film see the light of the day. The feel of the 1980's is there in every shot and the editing is very crisp. But I did feel that some scenes felt unreal. Also some characters felt very under-utilized and felt that could have been explored more.

Performanes: Ajay Devgn is the star performer of the film. He is in a great spot and proves that good scripts will just enhance his performance. Illeana D'Cruz although doesn't have much of a role but does provide good support to Devgn's character. Saurabh Shukla proved to be a very competitive villain to Devgn's character. He was just perfect. Amit Sial gave a good performance too. Here I would like to specially mention Pushpa Joshi. Given the fact of her age and being a non-actor she does a very fine job.

Music: The songs are by Amit Trivedi and Tanishk Bagchi. Being a T-Series production, Itb was usual that there would be reused songs. Although the songs were good, they did have no impact on forwarding the film (Tanishk's songs). The other 2 songs were good and had a good impact especially 'Jhuk Na Paunga' that is played during the end credits. The BGM by Amit Trivedi was awesome.

Favorite Scene: It would be the one where Amay enters Tauji's home and says that he has come to perform a search and seizure operation in his house. The acting and the dialogues in that scene is what made this scene very unique.

Verdict: It was good to see Ajay Devgn do a quality film after many years. This film is very entertaining. Although not perfect, but I did have a good time watching this film.

I am going with an 8/10.