By Princy Jain
Is Ajay Devgn a better actor or is he a better director? That is the question, I was left with, soon after the last scene of Runway34. Produced and directed by Ajay himself, the film is loosely based on the eventful landing of a Jet Airways flight, flying from Dubai to Kochi, back in the year 2015.
In the film, Ajay Devgn plays Captain Vikrant Khanna – a feted high-flying pilot, who is confident and clearly arrogant about his skills & photographic memory. What starts as a routine flight from Dubai to Cochin, becomes the plot of the story, as stormy cyclonic conditions develop at their destination city. Inside the cockpit, Capt. Vikrant is still a little woozy because of his late-night outing with his Dubai based friend. Co-pilot Tanya Albuquerque, very well played by Rakul Preet Singh, is sceptical about her pilot-in-command but carries on, as a humble awe-struck subordinate.
The stormy cyclonic condition leads to a complicated situation inside the cockpit. Consequently, in preparation for landing, the pilot is forced to take some crucial decisions, because of the deteriorating weather condition. To sort the situation Capt. Vikrant changes, the alternate city for landing from Bengaluru to Trivandrum. Only to be met with even poorer visibility in Trivandrum. Since they are now short of fuel, he decides to land thereafter announcing it a ‘Mayday’ distress signal, and chooses to do a blind landing signing off with a ‘Good Bye’.
However, he manages to bring the flight to land on the edge of the cliff on the Runway34, without any damage. The event ensues an enquiry on both the pilots, conducted by the meticulous officer Narayan Vedant, played by none other than Amitabh Bachchan. The narrative of the enquiry literally forms the second half of the film, but it remains engaging all through.
This is Ajay Devgn’s only third film as a director but there’s a tremendous growth to be seen. It will not be an exaggeration to say, that this is by-far India’s most aesthetically scripted & shot cockpit drama. Be it the sound, mid-air cinematography, the most seamless VFX, the production design, or the crisp storyline, all the production aesthetics are first of its kind for Indian cinema. Backed by some of the stalwart performers of our industry, like Mr Bachchan and Boman Irani the films hold you tight for its runtime of 2hrs 11 mins.
Much like his onscreen demure, Ajay’s film is an intelligent edgy thriller without any noisy fluff around it. It is a must-watch.
Rating – 4.5/5