RUNWAY 34 saw a very low first day as it collected 3 crore nett. If we go by the look of the film and the trailer, its not too shocking but as it had a presence of a star like Ajay Devgn, then the numbers become horrible. It is the lowest opening day for Ajay Devgn since ATITHI TUM KAB JAOGE way back in 2010. A similar thing happened with Akshay Kumar and BELLBOTTOM but there were excuses as it was a weak release coming out of the pandemic with many issues at that time.

The problem with RUNWAY 34 is that it is a niche film and coming after the pandemic, it may be even more niche; so when there is such a limited audience out there, a star is hardly going to make a difference. It is a remake of the Hollywood film FLIGHT which was a small film and did well in US according to the budget but the audience in India is very different to US. The core Hindi circuits are unlikely to find any entertainment in this sort of film.

Despite the opening day numbers, the film should get growth as its very much targeted at the multiplexes and the release is also very multiplex orientated which means there are very less places which will be flat or show less growth on Saturday. 

The film have to be up at a minimum 50% on Saturday and then follow up on a Sunday with a strong upward trend. Last week JERSEY went up well on Saturday but could not follow up on a Sunday; so Sunday is crucial if Saturday works in its favour. The follow up on Sunday is the harder task as Saturday growth should happen.

So even with a very low start, the film is still in the race due to the niche genre and the potential of going upwards over the weekend and then benefitting from Eid holidays. There is a long way to go but it cant be written off just yet even with these opening day collections.