Why did Ajay Devgn hop onto the director's seat with Runway 34 after Shivaay? Actor explains

Ajay Devgn has turned director for Runway 34 after Shivaay. In an exclusive conversation with IndiaToday.in, the Bollywood superstar spoke about his upcoming film, his character, hopping onto the director's seat, and much more.

Just two days left for the release of Runway 34, and director-actor Ajay Devgn is anxious for his dream project to hit the screens. Runway 34 is a thriller, which stars Ajay, Amitabh Bachchan, Rakul Preet Singh, Boman Irani, Angira Dhar, Aakanksha Singh. For the unaware, the film has been directed by Ajay himself. During an interview with IndiaToday.in, the superstar shared the reason for hopping onto the director's seat after Shivaay.

Runway 34 is set to release in theatres on April 29 and Ajay is anxious, already. The Bollywood superstar exclusively told IndiaToday.in about the release jitters he’s been feeling. He said, "I don't know what I'm feeling right now because I have been just running from pillar to post to finish the post-production. So once the release comes closer, then I'll start feeling something. Having said that, there is a certain kind of nervousness, not butterflies, but you're anxious more than nervous that you want to know what the result is. Because you work so hard and feel a certain way that the film should perform, at least appreciation-wise. So that anxiousness is there to know 'ab kya hoga'."

Ajay's last directorial was Shivaay (2016) and now, after more than six years, the Tanhaji actor jumped onto the directorial’ s seat again. Reasoning it out, Ajay shared, "I was too occupied for a couple of years. Also, I was producing films, so I had to give a lot to that. Last was Tanahji (2020). Then during the pandemic, we started working on the script and that's the time I really got to work on a script properly, design, and make it. So it was just that because there was time for me and I got a fabulous idea and a great script. It is inspired by a true incident and then we took it forward, worked on the script and it shaped up so well that I thought should be made immediately."

The film is inspired by the true event of the Jet Airways Doha to Kochi flight 9W 555, which had a narrow escape on August 18, 2015, after facing difficulties landing at the Cochin International Airport due to bad weather. Did Ajay know about the incident before working on the film? "No, not really. I knew about the incident but I didn't know the details of the incident. So when somebody came to me about the incident and when I read about it, it sounded very exciting. It is very interesting and more than that I loved the characters in the film,” he said.

Ajay Devgn will play the role of Captain Vikrant Khanna in Runway 34. Speaking about the real-life persona, the actor said, "This man also is brilliant, he has got a great mind. He is fab at his job. But he is somewhere a rule breaker. So he's somewhere grey. He likes to do things on his own terms and conditions and that is a change for him. So the whole film has got a little bit of a mystery that, what he did? Is he doing it out of arrogance? Or did he do it right? Did it fall in place or it was just by chance? So all that part was very interesting for me."