RAID 2 Review: Ajay Devgan was last seen in Azad, and the film failed terribly at the box office, although he was there as a cameo in the film, and even his cameo couldn’t save it. His last few films were hits at the box office. Films like Shaitan did fairly well, while Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha failed at the box office. He is back on the big screen with the biggie RAID 2, and here goes the detailed review of the film. The film was released on the big screens on 1st May 2024, and as of now, it is doing great at the box office.
The film stars Ajay Devgan and Ritesh Deshmukh in the lead roles. Ajay is playing the character of a powerful local politician who has a massive following among the public and is also a Member of Parliament. Vani Kapoor has replaced Illeana D’Cruz in the film, and she is playing the character of Ajay Devgan’s wife. Let’s jump to the detailed overview of the story, performances, and overall review of the film.
The plot of the film is very simple, and it starts with the 75th raid of Amay Patnaik. When Amay raided a local politician, he found out that there were some links in the case to Dada Bhai and that bigger faces were involved in this money laundering. He tries to establish links between the recovered cash and Dada Bhai, but he fails badly, and as a result, he also gets suspended. When Amay digs deeper into the case, he uncovers some shocking truths about Dada Bhai’s past. How he handles all of this and what Dada Bhai’s past was— to know that, you need to watch the film in theatres near you.
Maybe I was expecting too much from the story, but it turned out to be slightly on the weaker side, and almost everything was predictable. RAID 1 had lots of thrilling moments that shocked me with twists and turns, but Part 2 delivers no such moments. The plot is very simple, and it fails to thrill you like the previous installment. The story execution is decent, even with lazy writing, and that makes the film watchable.
The dialogue writing is brilliant, and it makes the film more impactful and entertaining. Dialogues like “Main Pandav nahi, poori Mahabharat hoon,” and scenes where Dada Bhai is humiliated by the opposition make the film emotionally engaging and help the audience connect. The biggest plus of the film is Ritesh Deshmukh’s performance. I don’t know why he did films like Masti and Grand Masti—those films completely ruined his image.
Ritesh has immense potential, and it would be great to see him as a villain in more upcoming biggies. It’s crazy how he transforms himself from a chocolate boy to a dangerous local politician just with his expressions and dialogue delivery. Ajay Devgan was superb in the film, just like in the previous part, and his eyes and intense acting do half the work. He looks great in the film, and his performance is one of the main reasons to watch it.
Vani Kapoor has done a decent job and did justice to her screen time. I am still confused as to why the makers removed Illeana D’Cruz from the film. Illeana was superb in the first part, and over the last few years, she has been missing from films and web shows. Amit Sial and Supriya Pathak were good in their respective roles, followed by Rajat Kapoor. Amit’s character might generate different opinions among fans, but I found it entertaining.
The background score is great and adds a boost to the film, but the songs were badly timed. I guess there was no need for the romantic track and item song in the middle of the film. I completely understand that item songs are meant to attract audiences, but the timing was very poor—it should have been placed at the end of the film.
I am going with 3.5 out of 5 stars for the film. The plot is slightly lazy and old-fashioned, but the performances by Ritesh and Ajay Devgan make it a good watch. When terrible films like The Bhootnii are running alongside this at the box office, RAID 2 is the only solid choice for this weekend. The film is suitable for watching with family and kids.
Rating: 3.5/5
Family Friendly: Yes