Bhushan Kumar confirms Ajay Devgn's 'Raid 2' is in the works, says the crime-thriller will be spinned into a multi-film franchise
Ajay Devgn, in 2018, shook the box-office with the hard-hitting crime-thriller Raid. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta and produced by Bhushan Kumar along with Kumar Mangat, the film not just garnered appreciation from the audience but critics too. A commercial as well as a critical success, Raid saw Ajay step into the role of a no-nonsense undercover IRS officer-Amay Patnaik while Ileana D'Cruz starred as his wife and Saurabh Shukla was the shrewd politician-Tauji. Considering its phenomenal success, reports of a sequel to the compelling thriller did the rounds. Now, confirming the same, producer Bhushan told a leading daily that the script of Raid 2 is currently being developed. During the interview, Bhushan said that the team is working on the idea to spin Raid into a multi-film franchise.
"It will be a huge multi-film franchise and Ajay ji and I, along with Kumar Mangat ji, are looking to take Raid forward. The script of Part 2 is being developed. Since the original was a much-loved film, the sequel is a huge responsibility. After the super success of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, there's a lot of pressure on this collaboration to live up to the expectation. We have always aimed at creating high concept films," Bhushan told.
A source close to the development told the daily that the franchise will focus on the heroes who track down white-collar crimes without donning the uniform. The Raid series will pay a tribute to those who have been working to erase crime completely. "The franchise seeks to bring into the public eye heroes who work closely with intelligence agencies to track white-collar crimes. To this day, nobody knows the identity of the officer on whom Ajay's Amay was modeled. Raid 2 will also be a tribute to men who don't wear the uniform," the source added.
Workwise, Ajay and Bhushan recently collaborated for the super successful Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior. Apart from that, the actor-producer duo teamed up for Abhishek Dudhaiya's Bhuj: The Pride Of India.