‘Raid’ loosely based on a real income tax raid conducted in 1981, is a gripping potboiler, that manages to add drama to something as dry and boring as an income tax raid. Ajay Devgan’s forte, besides raunchy ensemble comedies, is playing angry brooding righteous characters - the quintessential ‘hero’ - though one more relatable and real than the ones played by Salman Khan. Ajay’s Amey Patnaik is in the same mould, brooding, larger than life, bound to his duty, protecting his team even as his own life is threatened and throwing verbal punches that make you want to whistle. Saurabh Shukla ‘s ‘Tauji’ - the antagonist- has all the qualities of a great villain - heft, calm demeanour and killer dialogues. Tauji is a prototypical villain, seen dozens of time before, therefore, it takes a really fine actor like Shukla to infuse newness into a stereotype. I really liked the movie - bcoz let’s face - don’t we all wish more severely corrupt people were made to pay for their crimes, and more honest officers had the guts to stand up to power. That sense of scadenfreude is so attractive to watch - the movie is running housefull during a traditionally low period for movie releases ( exam and all that ).
What intrigued me more about this movie though - is that if political meddling can delay the release about a movie about fictional characters ( Padmaavat ), how come a movie about real IT officer anc a real politician went through without any delays ? . I guess the answer lies in the fact the politician in question is a Congress MLA! . The use of Indira Gandhi and a finance minister to show that corruption in the Congress goes all the way to top ( even though they are only shown as gently dissuading Devgun) might have been a ploy to reinforce the perception of congress with corruption. Also by mixing fact with fiction in a tale based on ‘true stories’, one will never know if Indira Gandhi or her finance minister made any calls to halt the real IT raid of a state level MLA. This was the pre-coalition era, so it seems unlikely that one MLA would have had the power to threaten to bring down a government. Also the violence shown is for cinematic effect only. A quick read about the real raid shows that it was actually peaceful.
Would this movie have seen a release if the politician in question was a BJP MLA? Maybe we will have to wait for a non-BJP govt in the centre to see some of their misdemeanours on screen.
What intrigued me more about this movie though - is that if political meddling can delay the release about a movie about fictional characters ( Padmaavat ), how come a movie about real IT officer anc a real politician went through without any delays ? . I guess the answer lies in the fact the politician in question is a Congress MLA! . The use of Indira Gandhi and a finance minister to show that corruption in the Congress goes all the way to top ( even though they are only shown as gently dissuading Devgun) might have been a ploy to reinforce the perception of congress with corruption. Also by mixing fact with fiction in a tale based on ‘true stories’, one will never know if Indira Gandhi or her finance minister made any calls to halt the real IT raid of a state level MLA. This was the pre-coalition era, so it seems unlikely that one MLA would have had the power to threaten to bring down a government. Also the violence shown is for cinematic effect only. A quick read about the real raid shows that it was actually peaceful.
Would this movie have seen a release if the politician in question was a BJP MLA? Maybe we will have to wait for a non-BJP govt in the centre to see some of their misdemeanours on screen.
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