Trailer Talk: Ajay Devgn As ‘Brooding, Upright Civil Servant’, Not For The First Time, In Raid

In the rather unimaginatively titled Raid, Ajay Devgn plays Amay Patnaik. He is a fearless income tax officer who leads a series of high-profile raids conducted in Lucknow in the early 1980s. Whether Patnaik is based on a real character is not known, but it is a variation of the character Devgn has played often: the brooding, upright civil servant who has his own way of doing things (and who likes to wear aviators).

The film, directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, revolves around the investigation by Patnaik in the mansion of Tauji, played by a menacing and comical, Saurabh Shukla, "the most powerful man of Lucknow" (seen slurping with relish his morning cup of tea, when Devgn breaks into his house). Ileana D'Cruz plays Patnaik's wife. "India ke officers ka nahi, unke biwio ko bahadur hona zaroori hai," Devgn says at one point; Ritesh Shah, the writer behind the punchy dialogues of Pink, Kahaani and D-Day, gets screenplay, story and dialogue credit here.

After Ghanchakkar, Raid will see Gupta (Aamir, No One Killed Jessica) directing a film after 5 years. With one of his old collaborators Amit Trivedi who has given the music, along with Tanishq Bagchi. Co produced by T-series and Kumar Mangat, Raid will release 16 March.

Watch the trailer: