Despite all the tiring and unnecessary drama, the first half creates intrigue. A cold face-off between two smart people—you know they will soon start outwitting each other. And bam! One of them exposes the laziness in the writing. Why-oh-why—in any movie—does the hero or the villain tip the other on what the other is missing? And in this movie then, the two get into a tip-exchange programme. Raid 2 never recovers from that.

Aren't they out of fashion already? Both slow-motion and item numbers.

Raid has created this brand of providing a special thrill and a dose of fun, despite the predictability. In one scene, you have elected officials mocking democracy. In the next, you are watching these corrupt politicians, who strut around with impunity, being brought down legally. So enjoyable!

But, beyond that, everything else just feels like it is for effect. Not germane to the plot; not cohesively linked from one sub-plot to the next; not fully thought out; just for the effect, for the drama. Whether it is the Income Tax Department's motto in Kusho Mulo Danda, which Ajay Devgn can barely pronounce or invoking Ram, Ramayan and Mahabharat into the conversation or presenting a character's devotion to his mother—it is all to serve the drama. Whether it connects to what the character was saying before or after is not important.

So, except for one or two instances, the witty lines from Raid go missing in Raid 2. This makes the performances of two of the supporting actors even more remarkable. One is Amit Sial as Lallan Sudheer, with his timing and just general presence. And the other is Shruti Pandey as Geeta Devi. Her energy had me smiling a couple of times.

The same cannot be said about Vaani Kapoor, whose role as Amey Patnayak's (Ajay Devgn) wife exists, just because. The role she does play in the actual meat of the story is clearly an afterthought. The things she gets done could easily have been done by Patnayak himself. Thankfully, the romantic scenes in Raid 2 take a cut compared to Raid.

A similar "just because" role exists for Saurabh Shukla, who continues to play Tauji from Raid. It is an obvious set-up for the next episode in this series. I don't completely roll my eyes at that prospect. I like the basic premise of the series. An honest income tax officer raids corrupt politicians. It's just that, beyond that, the form takes over substance.

There is potential for a coherent screenplay where the moles on one side are not conveniently placed, where the dots can be connected beyond rapidly spoken lines. There is a lot more scope for energy in the writing where the landline phones won't have to do the heavy-lifting of creating drama every time they ring and are lifted in slow-motion; where an item number isn't inserted at the slightest excuse.

Why-oh-why—in any movie—does the hero or the villain tip the other on what the other is missing?

Aren't they out of fashion already? Both slow-motion and item numbers. Speaking of which, it is high time that casual sexism and overt patriarchy are made out of fashion too. The whole "sasuraal ki rotiya tod raha hai" (feeding off of his wife's parents) ridicule was distasteful.

But that becomes a minor quibble compared to what could have been. It was sad to see the well-done build-up amount to something so hollow. How can a character be so corrupt and have such a spotless image? Oh well, who am I to argue if this was a real-life story like Raid? Is it, though? I looked it up, but couldn't find anything. Meanwhile, I continue to hope that the next round of Raid fulfils its capacity to be truly engaging.

- meeta, a part of the audience