Cast: Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh and Vaani Kapoor
Director: Raj Kumar Gupta
Platform: In cinemas from 1 May 2025
Rating out of 5:★★★
Ajay Devgn stomps back into our lives like a determined bailiff, reprising his role as
Amay Patnaik, the IRS officer so unflinching that diamonds would quiver in his
presence. This sequel to the moderately diverting original arrives with the inevitability
of tax season and roughly the same capacity to trigger mild anxiety.
Amay Patnaik, the IRS officer so unflinching that diamonds would quiver in his
presence. Image: IMDB
Director Raj Kumar Gupta presents us with another tale of bureaucratic virtue battling
governmental corruption, though this time the opposition comes in the form of Riteish
Deshmukh’s Dadabhai, a religious figure who wears piety like a three-piece suit –
formal, respectable, and potentially hiding ralot of secrets. Deshmukh brings actual
gravitas to his role, with understated performance where a lesser actor could have
gone with bigger gestures.
The film’s first hour moves with the urgency of government paperwork being
processed. Devgn maintains his trademark expression of a man perpetually calculating
a tough mathematical problem in his head while watching his favourite cricket team
lose. It’s not unimpressive, though it makes you wonder if he’s been surgically
prevented from displaying emotion.
Where the film finds its footing is in the procedural elements. There’s something quite
satisfying about watching bureaucracy weaponised against itself. The investigation
sequences, when they finally materialise, possess a methodical rhythm that grows
increasingly hypnotic. It’s like watching someone solve a particularly intricate puzzle,
except the pieces are made of conflicting financial statements and hidden assets.
The supporting cast does commendable work. Amit Sial and Saurabh Shukla bring
welcome depth to roles that could easily have been two-dimensional obstacles in
Patnaik’s righteous path. Their presence suggests a real understanding that even in a
moral crusade, there should be recognisable human beings involved.
The score attempts to inject drama into scenes and the cinematography captures the
institutional grey of government offices with what can only be described as loving
accuracy.
By the time the credits roll, Raid 2 has delivered precisely what it says on the tin:
Ajay Devgn bringing tax evaders to justice with the single-minded focus of a heat
seeking missile. It’s not ground-breaking cinema, but it’s well-executed entertainment
that knows its lane and stays firmly within it.
For those who find catharsis in watching the powerful brought low by the methodical
application of the law, this provides satisfactory release. It won’t change your life, but
it might make you feel slightly better about paying your own taxes.
