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.
