01-05-2025
‘Raid 2' review: Dull Devgn headlines dreary sequel
Ajay Devgn isn't the worst star-actor in Hindi films today, but he's the most boring. Nowadays he tends to play unflappable types who either take on powerful adversaries or have to get their families out of a jam. And he does so in such a dour, bland way that you have to wonder if he gets any joy out of acting anymore. There's a moment at the end of Raid 2 when his character's carefully laid plans have come off perfectly. But Devgn's face says, I'm tired and vaguely annoyed.
You'll be tired and vaguely annoyed by the end of Raid 2, a film that badly needs an agile, alive performance at its centre. Devgn reprises the part of Indian Revenue Service officer Amay Patnaik from the first film (2018), which was also directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. I'd written then: 'The qualities that (presumably) make Patnaik such an excellent officer are the same ones that make him a taxing movie lead.' This is still the case, as Patnaik goes from posting to posting scowling and sighing at everyone else's incompetence and greed.
The film actually begins with a rare failure—an investigation goes sideways when Amay is caught asking for a bribe. Even the most suspectable of viewers might not believe this; Amay's subordinate is seen trying to control his laughter when he asks for two crores under the table. At any rate, he's transferred to the town of Bhoj, where everyone's in love with local MLA and philanthropist Dada bhai (Riteish Deshmukh), who's also the state's home minister. This, of course, sets Amay's bells off. Soon, he's poking around Dada bhai's properties, reading for his 75th raid.
Raid 2 offers a change from the first film; Dada Bhai is as outwardly respectable as Tau, Saurabh Shukla's antagonist in the 2018 film, was crude and belligerent. But the sequel fails to make any comic hay out of Dada running rings around Amay while behaving like the most annoyingly polite kid in class—Devgn's unchanging expression never lets on if he's worried, sad, confused or elated. And once Dada's crimes, financial and otherwise, come to light, Deshmukh's performance becomes inadequate, lacking the entertainment and forcefulness of Tau (Shukla clowning on the fringes of this film doesn't help).
The inertness of Devgn v Deshmukh is made clearer by a couple of supporting performances that liven up the second half. First, there's Yashpal Sharma as a crooked lawyer who files a PIL on Amay's behalf (Amay saying 'Beimaan' (dishonest) and the next shot showing Sharma making an entry on his scooter is the film's best laugh). A little later, Lallan Sudheer (Amit Sial) joins Team Dada. Those with memories of the first film will remember Lallan as Amay's morally compromised subordinate. He's just as flexible here, sucking up to Dada Bhai so blatantly that a smarter villain might sense something off. These are broad comic performances, but they inject some energy into a film that resembles a deadly dull chess game, with Amay and Dada calling each other from time to time to trade polite trash talk.
The Raid films—set in 1981 and 1989—are almost comforting in their idea of corruption: wads of cash stuffed in mattresses, gold bars stashed in false ceilings, politicians using charitable foundations to hide their black money. It's an old-fashioned conception of a scam, unchallenging to today's viewer. Will Amay be back for another instalment, fighting corporate crime and uncovering a massive political conspiracy? It might make for a more pointed film, but I hope not.
First Published: 1 May 2025, 11:44 AM IST
