The maverick director Raj Kumar Gupta applies the rules of larger-than-life heroes to the new chapter of the unsung Income Tax officer Amay Patnaik that he created almost seven years ago. The only major difference is that Ileana DCruz played Amay Patnaik’s docile wife, in this version, Raid 2, his wife is played by Vaani Kapoor and while Taoji (Saurabh Shukla is now in jail, waiting for his parole. The role that he played earlier is now being enacted by none other than Riteish Deshmukh.
If the first installment was set in the Indira Gandhi regime, the sequel unfolds during the V.P. Singh regime. Without overtly underlining the intent, the film finds faults in the politics of social justice and coalition governments. The honest hero is Amay Patnaik, while the nefarious villain hails from a backward group that emerged from the chappal business, and the shape-shifting official who touches the feet of both the villain and the hero has no caste-defining second name.
In this sequel, the upright stiff looking Amay Patnaik IRS, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Ajay Devgn is back in the saddle to tackle the powerful and Bhuj based businessman cum cabinet Minister Dadabhai (Riteish Deshmukh) greedy heavy weight opponent with a cool and suave style who is celebrating a silver jubilee of official transfers on account of his honesty.
The hardcore and wily Rajasaheb (Govind Namdeo) traps him with false charges of bribery of two crores of rupees and he is suspended. Not one or two but four clever writers – Aditya Belnekar, Riteswh Shah, Karan Vyas and Jaideep Yadav collaborate on the script to weave a well-knit conspiracy that brings Amay right to the door steps of Dadabhai.
Ajay scores as the IT Commissioner but it is quite tough to see him sport a stiff exterior almost throughout the film. Amit Sial as Lalllan Sudhir who succeeds Amay as the commissioner after he is suspended is brilliant as far as his acting is concerned and changes colors with the ease of a chameleon while Supriya Pathak Kapoor leaves a big impact. Vaani Kapoor is just passable while Tamanna Bhatia has just been wasted in an item number.
Shruti Pandey impresses as Geeta, the female version of Daya (of CID) while Sudhir Chaudhry’s camera work is indeed impressive. Raid 2 has a running time of 138 minutes. Platform of Release- Theatres.
– Review by Jyothi Venkatesh
Cast of Raid 2:
Ajay Devgn as Amay Patnaik IRS, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax
Riteish Deshmukh as Manohar Dhankar alias Dada Manohar Bhai
Vaani Kapoor as Malini Patnaik
Rajat Kapoor as Kaul, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax
Saurabh Shukla as Rameshwar Singh/”Ramji”/”Tauji”
Supriya Pathak as Amma, Dada Manohar Bhai’s mother
Amit Sial as Lallan Sudheer, Amay’s colleague
Shruti Pandey as Geeta Devi
Brijendra Kala as Vinay Bakaya
Yashpal Sharma as Devinder Gehlot
Govind Namdev as Kunwar Kuldeep
Credits of Raid 2:
Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta
Written by Ritesh Shah, Raj Kumar Gupta, Jaideep Yadav, Karan Vyas
Production companies: T-Series Films, Panorama Studios
Produced by – Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak
Cinematography – Sudhir K. Chaudhary
Edited by Sandeep Francis
BGM Score – Amit Trivedi
Songs – Yo Yo Honey Singh, Amit Trivedi, Rochak Kohli, Sachet–Parampara, White Noise Collectives