Review By Kamal K
The fact is that Kaala Patthar is one of Amitabh's (and Yash Chopra's) most under-rated films. It is a film that definitely deserves to be better known.
A dark mining town, where the black rock means untold wealth for a few and poverty and death for many. Among those many men is one tall, silent man, Vijay Pal Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), whose days are filled with frenzied activity and nights, destroyed by the demons of his past.
One night, woken up from an uneasy sleep by his recurring nightmares, he hears the klaxon call warning of danger in the mines. The miners in tunnel no.4 are trapped. Undeterred by the thought of personal danger, Vijay goes down into the mines looking for his doomed colleagues. That he succeeds is not due to his personal bravery but his complete disregard for his own safety. Outside, the joyous yells of his fellow miners mingle with the jeers from his past. Where does one end and the other begin?
Dhanraj Coal Mines are obviously dangerous, and the mine owner Dhanraj Puri (Prem Chopra) is deeply contemptuous both of the mines and the workers who risk their lives to fill his coffers. He is given the disconcerting news by his Chief Engineer Maneklal Saxena (Yunus Parvez) that they cannot continue digging in tunnel no.4. The adjacent tunnel is filled with water and there is fear of it leaking and bringing down the walls, putting the lives of more than 400 workers at stake.
But how much do they stand to lose if they stop working the tunnel, Dhanraj asks. Rs4 million. Your mathematics is weak, Dhanraj tells Maneklal. 4 million is worth more than 400. He warns Maneklal not to discuss the matter with anyone. In the meantime, they have appointed a new engineer - Ravi Malhotra (Shashi Kapoor), whose first meeting with his new boss does not go too well.
Along with Ravi, there are two other newcomers in town; Dr Sudha Sen (Raakhee), who has come to take charge of the tiny clinic, and Anita (Parveen Babi), a journalist who has been expressly invited by Dhanraj to write a story about his mines. Ravi is deputed to fetch Anita from the airport, and it is clear that they know each other.
The next stranger to arrive is Mangal (Shatrughan Sinha), an escaped convict. Having made a daring jailbreak, he decides to hide out in Dhanbad until the heat dies down. But he doesn't actually hide; he walks in with an arrogant swagger and lords it over the inhabitants. Until he runs into Channo (Neetu Singh), an itinerant bangle seller; she offers him what she considers a piece of well-meaning advice - don't mess with Vijay. It acts as a gauntlet, which Mangal promptly picks up.
Meanwhile, Vijay's enemies, Tanna (Sharat Saxena) and his friends trap him in the mine at the end of the shift. Luckily for Vijay, Ravi helps him escape. Vijay is taken to the hospital where he meets the new doctor. Much to her consternation, he refuses anaesthetics while she is cleaning coal dust out of his wound. It is his punishment. For what, she doesn't know.
But she is intuitive, and scarily right in her understanding of him. Vijay is taken aback. Very few people can read him so easily. Surprisingly, she shares her story with him, and Vijay is touched in ways he cannot comprehend. Something unspoken passes between them, and when he turns to go, she offers him her name - Sudha.
Meanwhile, Ravi is finding himself pitted against Dhanraj. But not even Dhanraj's threats can swerve him from fighting for the worker's rights. Dhanraj is not a fool. He realises that Ravi has a lot of influence on the workers. He will bide his time. That night, the miners celebrate, but Ravi is fearful. They do not know the dangers they are courting. Not true, replies Vijay. The first thing that miners do when they get their salary is to buy a shroud for themselves. What if they are not fated to have a shroud? Counters Ravi. What if they are destined for a watery grave? Vijay is stoic, but asks to be warned when Ravi is sure the disaster will occur.
Mangal has not forgotten the gauntlet he picked up. Only, he's underestimated his man. Vijay is not one to back down. The fight may not occur then, but the mutual antagonism is simmering under the surface. It will finally break out, and spectacularly so, when Mangal deliberately insults Sudha.
Ravi and Dhanraj are heading for a collision too. Ravi orders new machinery that will make the miners' work easier, and safer. Dhanraj is furious. The mines are being worked for the owners' profits, not for the workers' safety! Everything is beginning to come to a head - the police are searching for Mangal, unlikely romances flare up, Anita has exposed the conditions in the mines and been kicked out by Dhanraj for her pains, accidental deaths continue, Ravi is forced to stop work in the mines, and Dhanraj is furious. Confrontations and consequences come thick and fast. And all the time...
Will Ravi's fears come to pass? Would Dhanraj really gamble with the workers' lives? Will Vijay's guilt lead him to taking impossible risks? What about Mangal? And Sudha, Anita and Channo? Are they fated to helplessly watch their destinies play out?
Kaala Patthar is a very raw film at heart. Much like its setting - the coal mines - the whole atmosphere of the film itself was bleak and forbidding. There was no room for levity, and the script, based on the real-life Chasnala coalmine disaster in Dhanbad, does ample justice to the disaster-film genre. It is a shame that Yash Chopra stopped making films such as these - the tautly scripted, emotional, conflict-driven, dramatic films that were his forte. This is the man whose debut film was Dharmputra - a tale of human relationships tested by the Partition. He also gave us Ittefaq, a taut songless thriller with just four characters, Deewar, Trishul, and Waqt - all dramatic films with a strong emotional core.
The acting was excellent (Amitabh and Shatrughan sharing the honours, Shashi offering quiet support), and it was not just the leads; Prem Chopra, Parikshit Sahni, Manmohan Krishna... they were all good. It is the songs that, while pleasant enough, were an unnecessary distraction, and so were two of the three heroines.
But these are only small quibbles about a film that was breath-taking both in scope and vision. Everyone involved were at the top of their game. It seems incredible, then, that the film failed at the box-office. Take the acting: this was Amitabh's show all the way. Vijay is a decorated naval officer who, disgraced by his actions, dishonourably discharged from the navy, and disowned by his family, seeks oblivion in this dusty little town. His hatred is for self, and he lives with it. He volunteers for the most dangerous jobs, regardless of danger. All his actions are driven by a desire to prove he is not a kaayar, a burzdil (coward). And Yash Chopra channelised that anger in a way that seared the screen.
Vijay's romance with Raakhee's Sudha is very subtle and understated, very much like their romance in Trishul. In this film too, he plays a tortured character, carrying his demons with him, and trying to outrun them at the same time.
It truly is a diamond in the rough. Now... to go watch it again.
The fact is that Kaala Patthar is one of Amitabh's (and Yash Chopra's) most under-rated films. It is a film that definitely deserves to be better known.
A dark mining town, where the black rock means untold wealth for a few and poverty and death for many. Among those many men is one tall, silent man, Vijay Pal Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), whose days are filled with frenzied activity and nights, destroyed by the demons of his past.
One night, woken up from an uneasy sleep by his recurring nightmares, he hears the klaxon call warning of danger in the mines. The miners in tunnel no.4 are trapped. Undeterred by the thought of personal danger, Vijay goes down into the mines looking for his doomed colleagues. That he succeeds is not due to his personal bravery but his complete disregard for his own safety. Outside, the joyous yells of his fellow miners mingle with the jeers from his past. Where does one end and the other begin?
Dhanraj Coal Mines are obviously dangerous, and the mine owner Dhanraj Puri (Prem Chopra) is deeply contemptuous both of the mines and the workers who risk their lives to fill his coffers. He is given the disconcerting news by his Chief Engineer Maneklal Saxena (Yunus Parvez) that they cannot continue digging in tunnel no.4. The adjacent tunnel is filled with water and there is fear of it leaking and bringing down the walls, putting the lives of more than 400 workers at stake.
But how much do they stand to lose if they stop working the tunnel, Dhanraj asks. Rs4 million. Your mathematics is weak, Dhanraj tells Maneklal. 4 million is worth more than 400. He warns Maneklal not to discuss the matter with anyone. In the meantime, they have appointed a new engineer - Ravi Malhotra (Shashi Kapoor), whose first meeting with his new boss does not go too well.
Along with Ravi, there are two other newcomers in town; Dr Sudha Sen (Raakhee), who has come to take charge of the tiny clinic, and Anita (Parveen Babi), a journalist who has been expressly invited by Dhanraj to write a story about his mines. Ravi is deputed to fetch Anita from the airport, and it is clear that they know each other.
The next stranger to arrive is Mangal (Shatrughan Sinha), an escaped convict. Having made a daring jailbreak, he decides to hide out in Dhanbad until the heat dies down. But he doesn't actually hide; he walks in with an arrogant swagger and lords it over the inhabitants. Until he runs into Channo (Neetu Singh), an itinerant bangle seller; she offers him what she considers a piece of well-meaning advice - don't mess with Vijay. It acts as a gauntlet, which Mangal promptly picks up.
Meanwhile, Vijay's enemies, Tanna (Sharat Saxena) and his friends trap him in the mine at the end of the shift. Luckily for Vijay, Ravi helps him escape. Vijay is taken to the hospital where he meets the new doctor. Much to her consternation, he refuses anaesthetics while she is cleaning coal dust out of his wound. It is his punishment. For what, she doesn't know.
But she is intuitive, and scarily right in her understanding of him. Vijay is taken aback. Very few people can read him so easily. Surprisingly, she shares her story with him, and Vijay is touched in ways he cannot comprehend. Something unspoken passes between them, and when he turns to go, she offers him her name - Sudha.
Meanwhile, Ravi is finding himself pitted against Dhanraj. But not even Dhanraj's threats can swerve him from fighting for the worker's rights. Dhanraj is not a fool. He realises that Ravi has a lot of influence on the workers. He will bide his time. That night, the miners celebrate, but Ravi is fearful. They do not know the dangers they are courting. Not true, replies Vijay. The first thing that miners do when they get their salary is to buy a shroud for themselves. What if they are not fated to have a shroud? Counters Ravi. What if they are destined for a watery grave? Vijay is stoic, but asks to be warned when Ravi is sure the disaster will occur.
Mangal has not forgotten the gauntlet he picked up. Only, he's underestimated his man. Vijay is not one to back down. The fight may not occur then, but the mutual antagonism is simmering under the surface. It will finally break out, and spectacularly so, when Mangal deliberately insults Sudha.
Ravi and Dhanraj are heading for a collision too. Ravi orders new machinery that will make the miners' work easier, and safer. Dhanraj is furious. The mines are being worked for the owners' profits, not for the workers' safety! Everything is beginning to come to a head - the police are searching for Mangal, unlikely romances flare up, Anita has exposed the conditions in the mines and been kicked out by Dhanraj for her pains, accidental deaths continue, Ravi is forced to stop work in the mines, and Dhanraj is furious. Confrontations and consequences come thick and fast. And all the time...
Will Ravi's fears come to pass? Would Dhanraj really gamble with the workers' lives? Will Vijay's guilt lead him to taking impossible risks? What about Mangal? And Sudha, Anita and Channo? Are they fated to helplessly watch their destinies play out?
Kaala Patthar is a very raw film at heart. Much like its setting - the coal mines - the whole atmosphere of the film itself was bleak and forbidding. There was no room for levity, and the script, based on the real-life Chasnala coalmine disaster in Dhanbad, does ample justice to the disaster-film genre. It is a shame that Yash Chopra stopped making films such as these - the tautly scripted, emotional, conflict-driven, dramatic films that were his forte. This is the man whose debut film was Dharmputra - a tale of human relationships tested by the Partition. He also gave us Ittefaq, a taut songless thriller with just four characters, Deewar, Trishul, and Waqt - all dramatic films with a strong emotional core.
The acting was excellent (Amitabh and Shatrughan sharing the honours, Shashi offering quiet support), and it was not just the leads; Prem Chopra, Parikshit Sahni, Manmohan Krishna... they were all good. It is the songs that, while pleasant enough, were an unnecessary distraction, and so were two of the three heroines.
But these are only small quibbles about a film that was breath-taking both in scope and vision. Everyone involved were at the top of their game. It seems incredible, then, that the film failed at the box-office. Take the acting: this was Amitabh's show all the way. Vijay is a decorated naval officer who, disgraced by his actions, dishonourably discharged from the navy, and disowned by his family, seeks oblivion in this dusty little town. His hatred is for self, and he lives with it. He volunteers for the most dangerous jobs, regardless of danger. All his actions are driven by a desire to prove he is not a kaayar, a burzdil (coward). And Yash Chopra channelised that anger in a way that seared the screen.
Vijay's romance with Raakhee's Sudha is very subtle and understated, very much like their romance in Trishul. In this film too, he plays a tortured character, carrying his demons with him, and trying to outrun them at the same time.
It truly is a diamond in the rough. Now... to go watch it again.