Raid 2 Movie Review: Ajay Devgn and Riteish Deshmukh dabble through a dull, tiring thriller

There is an old-school charm spread over the frames of Raj Kumar Gupta’s Raid films. They are obviously set in the 1980s, re-creating an aura of the time through the spread of blue and yellow tint in the frames and an ever-stoic Ajay Devgn resorting to dialoguebaazi but with a tint of his signature, subdued demeanour. He plays an income tax officer, Amay Patnaik, who is nearly obsessive about his honesty, not just wearing it up on his sleeve but spreading it like a fine quilt all over his body; Amay could very well be a mahatma.  When he says at one point that he is the entire Mahabharata, it may not be an exaggeration. He carries the virtue of an almost mythical character: too pious to be affected by the blemishes of the world, too ideal to merely remain a mortal. Demigods hardly make for compelling characters.

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Vaani Kapoor, Amit Sial, Brijendra Kala and Supriya Pathak

Directed by: Raj Kumar Gupta

Amay’s steadfast honesty is introduced in the first part, Raid (2018), where he brings his own modest alcohol bottle to a lavish party. “I only drink what I can afford,” he reasons. Seven years later, in Raid 2, he is shown to be asking a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a character hoarding unauthorised money. No, this is not his time of breaking bad; there’s a catch. It is just a ploy in order to get transferred to Bhoj, a small town in Rajasthan, to look into the background of a politician, Dadabhai (Riteish Deshmukh). It is a convenient ‘cinematic liberty’ that he is merely transferred (for the 75th time!) and not suspended for the plotted act, with no other character holding a questioning glance. Suspension comes, but only when he decides to conduct a raid on the multiple properties of Dadabhai and ends up finding nothing illegal. This time, it's Dadabhai who plotted the entire thing.

The film’s storytelling works largely on this deception. Nothing is to be taken at face value; every character has a flashback revealing their hidden intentions. Be it Lallan Sudheer Singh (Amit Sial), making an appearance in the second half; the hustler lawyer played by Yashpal Sharma; or the subordinate of Dadabhai, Vinay (Brijendra Kala). These characters bring twists in the narrative, yet none of it feels like a revelation. It is just a long battle of outsmarting each other. The screenplay (by Ritesh Shah, Raj, Jaideep Yadav and Karan Vyas) is filled with excesses. It is not enough for the film to just be about corruption; the antagonist has to also be a predator, blackmailing young women for sexual favours. Even Amay has to take on the role of an investigator, as he goes on to unearth the misdeeds of Dadabhai. He becomes even more invincible, without a shred of vulnerability in him. There is nothing that Amay cannot do, and hence nothing that he does comes as a surprise. Perhaps the film’s biggest spoiler lies in its name. You know there’s a raid going to take place ultimately. It's just a matter of how, and Raj makes it all about that without adding any layer of emotionality to the characters. Years ago, in 2008, when he made his directorial debut with the edgy and evocative Aamir, Raj showed promise in crafting thrillers with a heartbeat. With the Raid films, he has remained satisfied with bare-minimum storytelling.

What’s further unfulfilling is Ajay’s laid-back screen presence. What should have been quiet resilience becomes mute rigidity. At times, he says dialogues with a strange nonchalance, failing to make any of it memorable. There’s not much even for Riteish to do other than just be an epitome of evil, with a cunning smile here and an angry outburst there. Much of the film runs with a dullness that only dampens a little with the antics of Amit Sial. He brings a new life to some of the dead scenes, always having more to do than what is meant to be done. Saurabh Shukla is left to be only a means of comic relief this time after his menacing act in the first part.

Raid 2 is also a product of its desperate times. It believes in stuffing more in its story than just focusing on relevant portions and exploring them in detail. While the first part ran with a certain straightforwardness that also became too simplistic for its own good, here there is an attempt to always do more, say more, for you never know which arrow hits the bullseye. And so, there’s a forgettable Tamannaah Bhatia dance number force-fitted within the narrative; Amay’s wife, Malini Patnaik (Vaani Kapoor), gets a hurried agency to be part of his battle rather than just being an object of his weakness; Supriya Pathak as Dadabhai’s innocent mother has a melodramatic breakdown in the climax, and Amay Patnaik gets the last laugh. All of this is a lot to take in as the film dabbles between multiple tones in the finale. What was old-school becomes obsolete; all arrows miss the target. At 140 minutes, this is a raid on our patience—no warrant, no thrill, no point.