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
