Paitnaikwa Toh Bada Tezz Hai
First of all, congratulations to Ajay Devgn for achieving a collection of ₹19.71 crores NBOC on the first day. Even with dull marketing, this collection is too good. This is the perfect example of how franchise value matters.
Just 2 weeks ago, Kesari Chapter 2 was released and earned nearly ₹7–8 crores on its first day, despite heavy marketing. But here, Raid 2 is growing day by day.Raid (2019) is one of those family movies that you can watch anytime, and it will still keep you engaged — same as Drishyam Aao ab Raid shuru karte hain.
Warning – This Raid 2 review might contain spoilers. If you don’t want your experience spoiled, feel free to skip directly to the verdict section.
Why the “Maha Episode” Headline?
No doubt, I liked the film, but there were also flaws, which we’ll discuss later in this review.
Maha Episode tagline is there because the previous Raid was released in 2019. At that time, this concept felt unique and fresh. Now it’s 2025, and we all are evolving with our cinema taste. Agar yeh koi TV serial episode hota, toh bhi same value hi pass karta—kyunki melodrama toh waha bhi dekhte hain, bas thoda thrill ke saath. I hope you’re getting my point. Bass yeh ek lamba episode tha, jo chalta jaa raha tha, aur dekhne mein bhi mazza aa raha tha. Movie mein dum toh tha, but kuch cheezein predictable bhi hoti ja rahi thi.
Director Raj Kumar Gupta tried his best to keep audiences engaged every minute, but he wasn’t fully able to pull it off, because of the addition of several template stuff in the film. The first Raid was different. Movie start hoti hai, 15–20 minutes mein raid bhi start ho jaati hai. In the second part, the buildup took too much time.
Actors and Charatcters
Ajay Devgn as Amay Patnaik
No one is trolling Ajay for the same look in every film. Since Drishyam 2, Ajay Devgn has been playing roles with the same look—kyunki bande ko success mil raha hai. Jis din ye success ka tag gaya, ye bhi troll hona shuru ho jaayenge. Even the acting seems more or less similar. Serious hoke dialogue bol dena. The difference is that, because the actors are very skilled, they are able to sell it.
Now, I’m not saying anything bad about Ajay, I’m talking in general. Yes, he was good as Amay Patnaik. But the charm, charisma, and swag wasn’t like the previous part. Acting badhiya hi thi, but umm, I feel kuch toh missing tha.
Vaani Kapoor as Malini Patnaik
Vaani has a very posh face, and does not really suits the very Indian characters. Actors like Iliena D’cruz and Sonam Kapoor are able to look both very desi and modern. I’m only talking about the looks here. Every actor has some range and some limitations. Another example is Hrithik Roshan. Though we all love him, he won’t be a good fit in Gangs of Wasseypur, right? So casting should be done as per the characters, not popularity or any other reason.
Acting wise, she did not have much to do. Gin ke 10 scene honge mushkil se, apart from the songs. Even Illeana did not have much to do in the first part. Blaming the writing here, not the actor.
Riteish Deshmukh as Dadabhai
Very few times Riteish Deshmukh got a chance to play a negative character. Till date, his best was Rakesh in Ek Villain.
The character of Dadabhai wasn’t at that level, because the writing didn’t offer him that high range in terms of performance. But still he was very impressive in most of his scenes. Hope we could get to see more of his meaner side.
Amit Sial as Lallan Sudheer
He once again proves that real actors can impress you in limited screentime, if the writing and direction is good. He comes in the second half but delivers totally natural and raw acting. He was the highlight of the film.
Supriya Pathak – she played Dadabhai’s mother. Kuch khaas nahi tha, but jo bhi tha, accha tha.
Rajat Kapoor was also there in this part, and for a minute I remembered Drishyam after seeing Ajay and Rajat in the same frame. He too did not have much to do in the film.
Apart from this, the side characters like Yashpal Sharma as Devinder Gehlot,
Brijendra Kala as Vinay, Shruti Pandey as Geeta, Govind Namdev as Raja Kunwar Kuldeep, and others did their part very well.
Special Mention for Characters
Saurabh Shukla reprising his role from the previous Raid as Tauji.
Kudos to the makers for writing this character and using him as a narrator too. It’s a really great idea to bring Tauji back in this film. If you loved the first Raid, you will definitely enjoy him in this part too.
Plot
Amay Patnaik is going for his 75th raid—this time against Dadabhai. Dadabhai is a gem for the people of Bhoj. He’s a politician too. He has done a lot for his people, and he even opened an NGO in the name of his mother. His image is pure in the eyes of the people of Bhoj, but Amay knows the truth—that’s why he’s gone after Dadabhai. This is the basic plot of the film. They’ve used the same colour tone, same template from the previous Raid.
If you’re a fan of Raid (2019), you are definitely going to love this sequel too.
Thrills, Raid and Music
The way Amay conducts the raid was really good. The first half of the film was amazing—but two songs made it feel dragged. Songs weren’t necessary in this film.First half was engaging, but in the second half, the movie starts to go down… and down. Too much melodrama in the mother-son bonding scenes. For Dadabhai’s mother, her son is the best in the world—she doesn’t care what others say.
There are some scenes which are totally massy and seeti-maar—audiences went crazy when the climax scene came.
Climax was a bit dragged too, but the execution was decent.
Raid 2 is a perfect family entertainer—if you’re free this weekend, grab popcorn and watch the film. You’ll enjoy it.
Yes, there were some boring scenes, but those were mostly in the second half. I also noticed in the theatre audiences were using their phones they too felt bored.
Now coming to Music
When will the makers aim for making a perfect film, rather than giving in to gimmicks and decade old patterns of filmmaking? Yes, there was a time when people expected songs in movies but not anymore. Especially not when the songs are forced just to sell music rights.
We got two song with 30 minutes of the movie. Both were unnecessary and unforgettable. Sabke phone nikle hue the theatre mein. Part 1 too had two songs with Illeana, and they were too not needed then.
Even the Nasha song featuring Tamanna was wasn’t needed at all. Which genius told them it was a good move? Villain khush hoga toh ladki ka dance dekhega.. this used to work decades ago. It was not needed in a film like Raid 2.
There was a time when promotional songs were also good. They were made with effort and people used to stay back in the end to get a glimpse on the big screen. Ab koi nahi rukta. Aur na hi gaana bahaut accha tha. Honey Singh’s song in the end credits was clearly made to sell music rights, not for the audience.
Black Jama Hai was from Raid first part. Don’t know whether they reused it or it was a different rendition. It felt the same though. And it was int he background which helped the narrative and reminded us of the first part. So that was good. They also use the old Paisa song (that was also in Ajay’s Total Dhamaal) at the right time, so good job there.
Raid 3?
There are high chances that Raid 3 might also happen, because there’s a scene in the climax where Tauji meets Dadabhai, they might be planning something very big against Amay in his next big raid. Maybe this time against a powerful politician, a big-time businessman, or a godman who runs an aashram, but the reality he is corrupt.
Dekho, I also have a plot for the makers agar chaho toh main ek fan fiction bhi likh sakta hoon!
Would you like that? Tell us in the comments.
Verdict and Conclusion
The movie follows the same template from the previous Raid—bas paise chhupane ki jagah dusri thi aur tareeke alag the. One major difference was the previous one was the story of 2 days, whereas Raid 2 spanned over a long time. Baaki toh Patnaikwa waise hi hoshiyar hai, paise toh nikaal hi leta hai.
Raid 2 is a decent, well-made family entertainer, thriller-drama film. But Raid 1 was more tight and enjoyable, it felt like we watched something fresh. This one was too stretched with a lot of subplots and melodrama.
If you’re looking for a film to watch with your family this weekend, Raid 2 is a perfect choice. What I witnessed is—everyone is loving Ajay in these kinds of roles, and I also noticed that a lot of families are stepping into theatres just for Raid 2.
The word of mouth for the film is definitely positive. It’s going to cross ₹100 Cr+ at the box office in the first week – no doubt.
OCDTimes Rating – 3/5
Author: Mohit Khetwani
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