Runway 34
Runway 34 is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language thriller film directed by Ajay Devgn and produced by himself under his banner Ajay Devgn FFilms, the film stars Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan and Rakul Preet Singh with Boman Irani, Angira Dhar and Aakanksha Singh playing pivotal roles. The third directorial venture of Ajay Devgn, "Runway 34" was released theatrically on 29 April 2022, coinciding with Eid. Premise. The film is inspired by the true event 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 at 5:45 in the morning and had to be diverted to Trivandrum International Airport. Production. The film was originally titled "Mayday". The official announcement of the film was made on 7 November 2020 and principal photography began on 11 December 2020 in Hyderabad. In November 2021, the name of the upcoming film was changed to "Runway 34". The film was wrapped on 17 December 2021. Reception. "Runway 34" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rachana Dubey of "The Times Of India" gave the  film a rating of 4/5 and wrote "Runway 34 should be experienced for the way it depicts one of the scariest, and a near-disastrous aviation mishap in recent times with engaging characters, thrill and drama". Shweta Keshri of "India Today" gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "With Runway 34, Ajay Devgn finally finds his tongue as a director, and two atrocious prior attempts". Rohit Bhatnagar of "The Free Press Journal" gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "With Runway 34, Ajay Devgn surely found his space that is rich in thrill". Nandini Ramnath of  Scroll.in gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "Runway 34 is evenly balanced between offenders and the offended before it goes on the defensive". A Reviewer from "DNA India" gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "Runway 34 is a balanced film, with right amount of technical, emotional and masala content". Taran Adarsh from "Bollywood Hungama" gave the film a rating of 3/5 and wrote "Despite a gripping first half, the slow moving and conversation heavy second half limit the Ajay Devgn – Amitabh Bachchan starrer Rumway 34 a bit". Saibal Chatterjee of "NDTV" gave the film  a rating of 3/5 and wrote "Ajay Devgn, with a consistent performance that never goes off the radar, powers Runway 34.Rakul Preet Singh gives a solid account of herself. As for Amitabh Bachchan and other actors, the path is riddled with air pockets caused by blurry writing". Shilajit Mitra of "Cinema Express" gave the film a rating of 3/5 and wrote "Runway 34 is a frequently tense, perfectly serviceable aviation thriller, a genre of questionable repute in Hindi cinema". Sukanya Verma of "Rediff" gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Runway 34 is a clumsy cocktail of Hollywood  movies spiked with the Bollywood brand of God complex". Sanjana Jadhav of "Pinkvilla" gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Runway 34 can be a one-time watch but there are better aviation dramas you may want to explore". Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Ajay Devgn manages to deliver a somewhat effective pre interval portion despite its inelegant, underlined bits, but the film plummets as the curse of second half hits". Navneet Vyasan of "News 18" gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Good VFX but  Ajay Devgn’s character feels cliched, Amitabh Bachchan holds together the enquiry scenes". Umesh Punwani of "Koimoi" gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Runway 34 could’ve been a runaway success if not for falling into the trap of getting inspired by other films. It could’ve been way better if it ended in the interval". Anna MM Vetticad of "Firstpost" gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Runway 34 is unmemorable because it lacks a sense of urgency even while recounting a life-and-death story.". Monika Rawal Kukreja of "The Hindustan Times" stated  The Ajay Devgn directorial, which stars himself, Amitabh Bachchan, and Rakul Preet Singh is an edgy, fast-paced aviation drama that ends up being a great big screen cinematic experience. Music. The film's music composed by Jasleen Royal while lyrics written by Aditya Sharma.