Whenever we talk of tragedy in air, two films immediately come to our mind – ‘Sully: Miracle on the Hudson’ aka ‘Sully’, a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Clint Eastwood with Tom Hanks playing Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger and Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’, a 2012 American drama film starring Denzel Washington as William ‘Whip’ Whitaker Sr., an alcoholic airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mechanical failure. Ajay Devgn’s Runway 34 could very well fall into the same category minus the legal and emotional drama involved.
Ajay Devgn had a good subject in hand and should be credited to attempt such a topic that does not involve the Bollywood routines of song, dance, action and romance. Though one may not be incorrect in noticing Ajay Devgn’s self-obsession in displaying his histrionics of smoking and having a catch phrase tagging along.
Ajay Devgn’s directorial ‘Runway 34’ is a high-octane thriller said to be inspired from the true story of the Jet Airways Doha to Kochi flight 9W 555, a Boeing 737–800 aircraft that had a narrow escape on 18 August 2015, after facing difficulties to land at the Cochin International Airport due to bad weather and unclear visibility in the early morning.
Ajay Devgn plays an experienced pilot Captain Vikrant Khanna with ‘photographic memory’, who never forgets things. On one fateful morning he must fly but he is already tired flying for 5-6 days continuously. Earlier on he parties hard on his friend’s insistence being in his city (Dubai). What follows is what ‘Runway 34’ is all about. Rakul Preet plays First Officer Tanya Albuquerque, a junior to Captain Vikrant who experiences a fan-girl moment when she meets Vikrant. And the towering Amitabh Bachchan plays Narayan Vedant, a very stern airlines investigator, who pins down Captain Vikrant.
Though ‘Runway 34’ may not be an edge-of-the-seat thriller, it definitely keeps the audience hooked to the narrative. As mentioned earlier, Runway 34 was a good subject for the Hindi movie audience, but it seems the director Ajay Devgn was bogged down by the actor in him. As a storyteller he could have delved deeper into the fact and factors that lead to the mishap. Runway 34 could have been a great example of being a legal thriller. There was ample of scope for the director to narrate in terms of how human errors along with the weather playing a spoil sport could translate into a tragedy. And that the pilot is left but to try as hard as possible to safeguard the lives that now depends on him.
The narrative should have involved a few obvious characters in the investigation scenes to build the plot further for instance the executive in the ATC is not touched upon in the investigation even though there is a dialogue that hints at the same and the circumstance shown in the initial reels. This could have heightened the drama instead of the insipid sub-plot of the airlines merger angle and its owner played by Boman Irani, trying tricks to get bigger. Also, Amitabh Bachchan’s character firing an executive for miscalculation (of fuel) could have been used to enhance the drama instead of making it look like a mockery. Quite a few dialogues given to Amitabh Bachchan are repeated in Hindi and then in English, the same runtime could have been used in making Captain Vikrant’s case stronger.
Ajay Devgn as pilot Captain Vikrant Khanna looks convincing in his part but it is surprising to fathom why he spends so much of his screen time showcasing himself smoking, knowing very well that a ‘disclaimer’ also shares the same screen space!! Other than that, Ajay is worth watching in his tense moments. Amitabh Bachchan sleepwalks his character and looks like an encore of his ‘Pink’ performance as a lawyer. Rakul Preet Singh plays the leading lady but does not get enough opportunity to explore her acting capabilities. An actor of Boman Irani’s stature is wasted big time and seems inconsequential as far as taking the story forward is concerned.
Rest of the cast are perfunctory and fill in the muster.
Overall, Ajay Devgn’s ‘Runway 34’, an attempt at trying something different and bringing this story to fore is praise worthy and is at least a onetime watch.
Film: Runway 34
Director: Ajay Devgn
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan, Rakul Preet Singh, Boman Irani, Angira Dhar, Aakanksha Singh,
Duration: 148 minutes