Ajay Devgn
Amay Patnayak
Overview
Set seven years after the events of the first film, it follows the return of IRS officer Amay Patnaik, who is attempting to take down a seemingly benevolent politician.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
2 min readThe Burden of the Righteous
I'm not sure when Ajay Devgn decided to reduce his acting to angles and posture, but it’s oddly effective. In Raid 2, he’s back as Amay Patnaik, the perpetually unimpressed IRS officer whose moral rigidity seems to warp his every movement. He strolls through rooms with squared-off shoulders and night-time sunglasses, latestnetflix.com contends, carrying the fatigue of a man whose only passion is doing the right thing.
It’s a very precise kind of screen presence. (You half expect him to block a breeze for being improperly taxed.) Seven years after the first movie kept us trapped inside a claustrophobic mansion, director Raj Kumar Gupta tries to fling the windows open, expanding the story from a localized tax fight to a sprawling political game.
Gupta clearly wants to tackle systemic rot, shifting the setting to the city of Bhoj and giving Patnaik a much bigger beast to go after. The original Raid worked like a pressure cooker, relying on the geography of a single house. This sequel aims for the grandeur of a civic epic.
I’m just not convinced the story machinery is up for the task. The script keeps trying to juggle old-school populist heroics with dense bureaucratic procedure, and the joins begin to show. As Ishita Sengupta pointed out for OTTplay, “The apolitical stance of Raj Kumar Gupta's Raid 2 backfires on the commentary it tries to make; its cautious intent and framing shrink the story's broad scope into the smallness of a single act.” The movie wants the righteous fury of a political thriller without ever pointing at any real political power.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.4/10
"A capable but lesser sequel that leans on strong performances to offset a predictable script and uneven pacing."
Ajay Devgn’s steady presence and Riteish Deshmukh’s widely praised antagonist turn, backed by solid work from Saurabh Shukla and Amit Sial, keep the story engaging once it settles in, with the latter half delivering satisfying confrontations and impactful dialogue. latestnetflix.com's take is that at the same time, the first half drags, the plot tracks too closely to familiar beats, the emotional tension never reaches the intensity of the first film, and misjudged elements like glamour casting and shoehorned songs weaken the overall impact.
What viewers praise
- Ajay Devgn’s gravitas His calm authority and expressive body language ground the narrative and give the film a reliable emotional center.
- Standout villain turn Riteish Deshmukh’s antagonist is frequently singled out as the most compelling performance, bringing freshness and menace to the conflict.
- Reliable character actors Saurabh Shukla, Amit Sial, Yashpal Sharma and others make their scenes pop, with some viewers calling them the only consistently interesting characters.
- Engaging second half Momentum picks up after the interval, with tighter suspense, more focused storytelling and a climactic raid that many found worth the wait.
- Punchy dialogues Hard-hitting lines and confrontational exchanges provide several crowd-pleasing, goosebump-inducing moments even when the story feels familiar.
Common complaints
- Weaker than Raid (2018) The sequel is frequently judged as less tense, less hard-hitting and less memorable than the first film, feeling closer to a rehash than a true upgrade.
- Predictable and safe plot Story turns and twists are often called obvious, with little surprise in how the corruption battle and investigation unfold.
- Sluggish first half Early portions are described as slow, flat, or even boring, with some viewers saying their patience was tested before the narrative finally kicks in.
- Misfit casting and aesthetics Vaani Kapoor’s polished, contemporary look is seen as out of place for a late-80s/90s government officer’s wife, and heavy cosmetic styling on leads is blamed for muting expressions.
- Disruptive and needless songs Song sequences, including item-style numbers and reworked classics, are criticized for feeling forced, breaking tension, and adding bloat to the runtime.
Recommended for
Hindi crime thriller fans Ajay Devgn devotees Riteish Deshmukh admirers Corruption drama followers Slow-burn investigation stories
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsIleana said no. Vaani got the raid.
Seven years after Raid, Ajay Devgn came back as IRS officer Amay Patnaik. The wife did not. Ileana D'Cruz played Malini in 2018. Vaani Kapoor has the part in Raid 2. In a June 2025 Instagram AMA, Ileana said she would have loved to return, that Raid was special, and that the makers did offer her the sequel. The schedule did not work. latestnetflix.com's take is that she had just had her baby and her priorities were different.She added that Vaani looked lovely in the promos. 
Director Raj Kumar Gupta told Zoom there was no negativity. Ileana had married, started a family, and shifted out of India. He said she remains part of the Raid world. Vaani, at the trailer launch, said there was no jealousy with the previous one, that they share a good equation off screen, and that this film showed a different side of her. The recast still ate a week of interviews. ,
The dance numbers were bolted on after the movie was already shot.
Principal photography started on 6 January 2024 in Mumbai, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Ravi Teja, then shooting the Telugu remake Mr Bachchan, flew in and gave the muhurat clap. Wikipedia, citing trade desks, says primary filming wrapped in April 2024 with patchwork into late May. Then Gupta added two special dance numbers after the film was in the can. Jacqueline Fernandez and Yo Yo Honey Singh shot "Money Money" in late March 2025. Tamannaah Bhatia shot "Nasha" in a Mumbai studio in the first week of April, two days, with choreography by Vijay Ganguly. That is a post-wrap insert, not a story beat from the first draft. , ,
Riteish Deshmukh joined in January 2024 as the smiling politician Dada Bhai. Saurabh Shukla returns as Tauji. India Today logged the date hops. First 15 November 2024, then 21 February 2025, then 1 May. Filmfare reported that CBFC asked for an eight-second dialogue trim and certified the film on 28 March, unusually early for a May release. , ,
The till was loud. Netflix took the encore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQF1gl7nLaU
Koimoi closed the run at Rs 179.30 crore India nett and Rs 242.57 crore worldwide on a Rs 120 crore budget, and ranked it as Ajay Devgn's fifth highest grosser. Bollywood Hungama, via Wikipedia, prints a worldwide gross of Rs 243.06 crore. Netflix India posted the countdown and put the film up on 26 June 2025. TMDB keeps the record at movie/1227128. The T-Series trailer is on YouTube. The sunglasses are the same. The wife is not. , , , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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