Reviews & Ratings for
Raid (2018)

Ajay Devgn is back to entertain his fans & this time he is in Raid as an Income-tax officer. Directed by Rajkumar Gupta, this film tells a story of India's longest raid that happened in 1981.

Though, the subject is about a single raid, it is difficult to make a full feature film without loosing audience. Ritesh Shah, writer of this film, has done commandable job. But, it could have been made with more intense drama, more sharp dialogue and more twists and turns. Other than that, I think this film has no other negative point.

Saurabh Shukla is again delivering a power-pack performance. Ileana is sweet and subtle in her tiny role. The old actress who is playing Saurabh Shukla's mother, is the major plus point of this film. Whenever she comes on the screen, it is hard to control your smile. Apart from her, Amit Sial plays an important role to entertain people.

Ajay Devgn has given another good performance. Though, I have to admit that this is not his best. He has many roles which will be remembered by me, but not this one.

There are three songs. Last song by Papon is good. Other two songs by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan are not required in the film. But, they don't take much time, so it's fine.

There are two dialogues which I really liked: 'Jo apni zuban ka nahi, Wo insan bhi hai kya!'& 'India ke officers ka nahi, unki Biwiyon ka bahadur hona zaruri hai!'

I went to see some extraordinary film, but it is not at all close. In my screen, where Ajay's fans came too, were not cheering or whistling, and I guess it's because the film lacks in punches. I don't know I am right or wrong, but as compare to Sonu or Padman, this film gives nothing to me (at least).

On the whole, if you are Ajay's fan, then go for it. Anyone can watch it one time. It is not bad. But for me, it is not superb. I would rather see Special 26 again.

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.