Not ‘seeti’-worthy
An armed mob has surrounded his hideout but the hero is still gazing at his wife’s photo as a romantic number plays in the background. Confused moments like this put a dampener on what could have been a decent thriller.
Ajay Devgn-starrer Raid is based on the true-life story of an income-tax officer and the longest-running I-T raid in Indian history. The subject is businessman and Congress MLA, Sardar Inder Singh. The scene is his Kanpur home. It’s July 1981.
This is the first outing in three years for director Raj- kumar Gupta (best known for the critically acclaimed Aamir and No One Killed Jessica). His last film was the forgettable Ghanchakkar, with Vidya Balan. This time around, Devgn plays Amay Patnaik — based on Sharda Prasad Pandey, who was Income Tax commissioner of Lucknow in 1981; D’Cruz is his dutiful wife.
Gupta relies mainly on Devgn’s intensity, and saddles him with wordy dialogue in an attempt to add gravitas to his character. He’s wordy at his morning tea and preachy in the office. The screenplay places an almost equally weighty burden on Saurabh Shukla, playing a menacing politician. Here he is talking to his family: “Ravan to parakrami tha, paramgyani tha, parivaarik tha. Usko Raam ne nahi uske bhai Vibhishan ne maara tha.” Far too much time is invested in establishing Devgn and D’Cruz’s chemistry. The film picks up pace once the raid begins, but soon even that becomes repetitive — every wall vomits banknotes and pillars cough up gold utensils one after another. Devgn is in top form as the brooding, moralistic family man who considers duty and country above all. Shukla is effective as the loud and devilish Tauji. The film also offers an interesting peek into the way our system works to shield corrupt politicians and businessmen. With tighter editing, slightly less focus on the love story and smaller doses of melodrama, Raid could have been gripping. As things stand, only ardent Devgn fans are likely to find it seeti-worthy.