Kaala Patthar

Producer-director Yash Chopra is known in Bollywood as the 'King of Romance' because he has made certain classic romantic movies. However he had made some different movies too. One of them is Kaala Patthar (1979).

The story of Kaala Patthar (black stone) has been set in the a coal mine whose owner is a greedy businessman - Dhanraaj (Prem Chopra). Dhanraaj compels the coal mine workers to work in potentially dangerous conditions. He does not care for their welfare or health or even security of life and interested only in making maximum money out of that coal mine. He hires the services of an engineer - Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) who while working in his mine, is stunned to see that due to the excessive mining, one tunnel is about to go for water-logging and the lives of some 400 workers are in danger. Ravi also happens to see the poor condition of the workers and the lack of even the basic amenities for them which are the minimum requirement not only under the labour laws but also on humanitarian grounds. The doctor in the hospital maintained just for the sake of a legal formality - Sudha (Raakhee) keeps on complaining for medicines and a compounder but her calls fall on deaf ears of the management.

Among the workers, there are some goons too who extort money from the weak and hapless workers. Besides, there are two unique workers also. One is an escaped jailbird Mangal (Shatrughan Sinha) and the other is a courtmartialled naval ship captain Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) who was labelled a coward when fled away from his ship endangering the lives of 300 passengers and abandoned by his family. Vijay comes closer to Sudha who is able to sniff out that Vijay is actually not what he is visible to the world. Two parallel love stories also run. The first one is a hilarious love story of Ravi with Dhanjraaj's niece - Anita (Parveen Baabi) who is a journalist and the second one is the love story of Mangal with a village girl - Chhanno (Neetu Singh) who sells toys and the things used by married women as a symbol of their marital status (being SUHAAGIN).

As we can easily guess that the continuous extraction of coal from the potentially dangerous tunnel, finally leads to its collapse and lethal water-logging in the climax of the movie. Vijay, Ravi and Mangal do their best to save as many lives as possible but still many lives are lost including that of Mangal.

The movie is less realistic and more formulaic because the script-writers and the director have nowhere compromised on the entertainment front. The movie is damn interesting and the writer-director team should get full marks for not allowing even an ounce of boredom in this movie which is in a league of its own.

The movie starts in a very impressive way when the young engineer Ravi heads towards his destination by riding a motorbike and singing a very very inspiring song - Ek Raasta Hai Zindagi, Jo Tham Gaye To Kuchh Nahin (the life is a path and if you stop somewhere, it's nothing for you). The song runs with the credits and the drama begins soon after the song.

The art director - Sudhendu Roy is the unsung hero of this movie who has done a splendid job by bringing a coal mine area, tunnels, tea stall cum Dhaaba (small restaurant), workers' homes etc. everything as alive on the screen. The complete look of this movie is realistic (though the script is formula-based).

Rajesh Roshan's music is not great but the song mentioned above as well as in the title of this review is a memorable one which Kishore has sung (with Lata also contributing). The other song that stands out is Dhoom Mache Dhoom Aaj Ki Raina sung jointly by Lata, Rafi, Mahendra Kapoor, S.K. Mahan and chorus. Lyrics have come from Saahir's pen.

In the author-backed role, Amitabh Bachchan has portrayed his guilt-complex, anguish and stuffiness with utmost proficiency. The role is apparently subdued but actually a highly emphatic one. Despite being a multi-starrer movie, Kaala Patthar allows Amitabh Bachchan with his soot-stained face, to stand out from the high profile cast.

Among others, Shatrughan Sinha is there with all his theatricals and Shashi Kapoor with all his jolly gimmicks. Prem Chopra has done villainy in his typical style. Ladies did not have much to do but Raakhee has delivered a very mature performance and her chemistry with Amitabh Bachchan is also touching. The emotion in the relationship of Vijay and Sudha is subtle and remains as undercurrent in their interaction. Both Amitabh and Raakhee have performed this part with perfection. The director has not done any injustice to any actor in this multi-starrer movie and all have got ample screen-space and scope to show their mettle. Sanjeev Kumar also impresses in his cameo of the outgoing doctor.

Kaala Patthar was commercially not successful when released. May be because the people were expecting something different from the maker of feelgood movies. However it can be considered a classic now.

This film has an amazingly ambitious story for its time. a story about poorly treated coal mine workers and a deeply powerfull hero destined to a life of pain and suffering for his mistakes in his past. this film boasts some powerfull performances from Amithab Bachan and Shatrugan sinha. Rakhee plays the soulful doctor destined to help the unfortunate wherever they may be thus on of the most famous lines in bollywood history when Rakhee is trying help The injured Amithab. "please why dont you try uderstand" "Pain is my destiny doctor and I can't avoid it!" Shashi kapoor plays the Dashing young romantic engineer together with Parveen Bhabi the news reporter who plays his girlfriend in the film. The story works well on a whole though technically the film leaves a lot to be desired. Though the scenes in the coal mines are well done. The rest is a bit shoddy in places, but some brilliant acting is what takes this film beyond its rather dull appearance. This film comes with a soulful soundtrack that really works well and some fantastic songs to be rememderd forever... they just don't make stories like this anymore.....shame really

The Stellar star and production cast speaks for itself. Amitabh well and truly on his way to becoming the Badshah of Bollywood and the No.1 in the early 80's, this is one of his best movies and performances in the late 70s as the Angry Young Man with a Past. Shatrughan is unforgettable as the Bad good guy, Shashi Kapoor at his debonair best, Prem Chopra the consummate villain - and best of all unlike other Bollywood glamorized movies this one is shot thru with an extremely strong dose of realism - you can almost taste the coal dust and grit in your mouth - one of Yash Chopra's very best and India's nod to the Hollywood disaster hits of the 70s - but then of course the crown jewel is Amitabh all the way - a towering electrifying performance. Soundtrack is awesome too (Ek Raasta Hai Zindagi by Kishore especially) - Quality of the movie on Amazon is great - crisp and original quality with no digital artifacts - pitch perfect digital version

KAALA PATTHAR is my all time favorite movie. I never imagined even in my dreams that I'm going to watch this masterpiece with my father on the Big Screen and that too on Amitabh Bachchan's 80th Birthday. Mr. Bachchan as Angry young man, Vijay was phenomenal he is an absolute legend. After 43 years of its release this movie is still impactful with the powerpacked performance and striking dialogue delivery of Shatrughn Sinha and pleasant appearance of Shashi Kapoor. Beautiful Multistarer Direction of Yash Chopra, Script by Salim-Javed, Playbacks of Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Md. Rafi and Mahendra Kapoor everything was there to make it one of the most heroic Bollywood cinema.

#HappyBirthdayAmitabhBachchan #AB80 #KaalaPatthar.

An ambitious film that suffers, unfortunately, from what might be the worst cinematography in the history of film. Even an American special effects team could not save the film from somtimes sloppy editing and shoddy camera work. However, the film is worth seeing for the issues it brings up regarding worker/management relations. A good story and great acting soften the blow of the weak cinematography. Yash Chopra is a very good director, but this film makes him seem like a hack.