Ajay Devgn: Amit ji is an institution

The Bollywood actor talks about working with Big B in ‘Runway 34’ and explains the challenges of shooting an aviation thriller

After acclaimed cameos in hits like ‘Sooryavanshi’, ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ and ‘RRR’, veteran actor Ajay Devgn is back in the lead role. A pioneer in various aspects of technology besides being a producer, Ajay also returns to direction with ‘Runway 34’, releasing under his banner Ajay Devgn FFIlms on April 29.

This is his third directorial after ‘U Me Aur Hum’ (2008) and ‘Shivaay’ (2016). How did the film happen? “This script shaped up very well,” he tells Showtime. “When you start seeing the film in your head, and realise that no one else can see it the way you do, that’s when you decide to direct it. Besides, this film became challenging on the technical front and that inspired me even more,” he explains.

“In ‘Shivaay’, though there were a lot of landscapes besides the caves, we took some unique shots, including action sequences,” notes Devgn. “In this film, there is a lot of drama within a cockpit, which is a seven-by-seven space. To create drama and a claustrophobic atmosphere and not make the cockpit fake and big to accommodate more cameras
was a tough task,” he says.

How different was it to shoot an aviation thriller? “We had proper details and statistics to help us shoot. There were real ATC (Air Traffic Control) personnel around to check the finer details. The working equipment in the cockpit was real, just like in a simulator, and before every shot, we would feed in details, like what would show in the counters when the plane is at 35,000 feet. I have also flown a lot of charters. I chatted with the captains and learnt how they talk and use their hands to manoeuvre the planes,” explains the 53-year-old.

Talking about the advancement of technology, Ajay concedes that things were decidedly more difficult for filmmakers of earlier generations due to the absence of a monitor.

“A director then had to trust his cameraman for the perfect shot as he had envisioned it. So, it’s easier again now. Having said that, I too have done films where there were no monitors,” he says.

Besides himself, Ajay has, for the first time, directed his co-star of many films, Amitabh Bachchan. “Oh, I have known Amit-ji since I was a kid, because of my dad’s (the late action director Veeru Devgan) association with him. He’s an institution and we can only learn from him. The kind of dedication and love he has for his work is exemplary. Even if he’s having any health issues, you will never realise it. He comes on sets much before time and remains there, without dashing off between shots to his van like other actors do. He obeys you without question and delivers beyond expectations. So he inspires you to be a director,” he observes.

How does Ajay decide on whether to go in for a theatrical release or an OTT one, since he has now made films like ‘Chhalang’, ‘The Big Bull’ and ‘Tribhanga’ that released on OTT, apart from his web series production, ‘The Great Indian Murder?’

“The platform matters only in practical terms,” he replies. “Especially after the pandemic, there are now two kinds of movies—those that are larger-than-life big-scale films, and those that are smaller in scale yet have interesting stories. People watch the trailers and decide. In the first case, they want to watch on a screen bigger than their phones or television and go to the theatres, while they are content with watching the others on OTT.”

He goes on, “On the other hand, I enjoyed acting in my web debut ‘Rudra—The Edge Of Darkness’. If I were to compare our show with ‘Luther’, on which the show was based, I would say that the action was better and the scale was huge. I hadn’t played a grey character like that.”