“Raid” is a 2023 Tamil action thriller film directed by Karthi in his directorial venture. It is a remake of the 2018 Kannada film “Tagaru”. It is produced by S. K. Kanishka and G. Manikandan. Vikram Prabhu plays the lead role of a dashing police officer alongside Sri Divya.
“Prabhakaran” (Vikram Prabhu), a police officer, is on a mission to bring peace to the city by getting rid of all the gangs. His greatest challenge will be in the form of two merciless gangsters "Daali and Chitte" who ruled the city's underworld, with the help of their boss Uncle. Prabhakaran begins his mission by taking down Uncle’s close associate, Baby, during a police operation. In the process, he also captures and kills Daali’s brother, Cockroach, in an encounter.
Furious over his brother’s death, Daali and Chitte plot revenge. They ambush Prabhakaran during his morning jog, where his fiancée, Venba, is tragically killed in the crossfire. Heartbroken, Prabhakaran begins a tireless pursuit of Daali's primary accomplices, killing Chitte among others. As he approaches Daali, he discovers that Venba's sister, Venmathi, has been detained during a police raid in Goa. Prabhakaran rescues her, thereby putting him back in motion towards what he initially intended to do.
In a heated final confrontation, Prabhakaran and Daali fight out in hand-to-hand combat, where Prabhakaran eventually kills Daali, avenging Venba's demise. Having accomplished his mission, he returns to duty without any qualms, preparing to meet the next challenge.
“Raid” is an adrenaline-infused action thriller with some brutal fight scenes, high drama, and a satisfactory revenge drama. Vikram Prabhu is great as the tough cop, and the movie has a breakneck pace and hold. But its very basic revenge story can be extremely predictable at places. But the movie does succeed in dishing out a clean adrenaline rush for action fans, with the kind of adrenalizing scenes that keep one stuck till the last seconds.