Pedra Negra

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 Pathar is the story of Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) an ex-naval officer who is court-martial ed and dismissed from the navy for his role in as captain of a ship that sank and many lives were lost. Vijay is looking for a place so dark that even the hideous demons inside him that taunt him so terribly will get scared and go away. He finds that darkness in the depths of the coal mines where he now works as a coal miner, where he welcomes every danger, every threatening rumble of disaster as a chance to pay for his past Ravi (Shashi Kapoor), the engineer in-charge of these doomed mines. Doomed because the greed and mindless exploitation by its owners have made the mines into potential death traps. Ravi, seeing the terrible danger looming ahead, tries to alert the management but with little use. He is paid for his alertness by being fired from his job which is when he joins forces with the workers and Vijay in order to save the lives of the minors and fight the establishment. Mangal (Shatrughan Sinha), an escaped convict who is also looking for a place to hide, but unlike Vijay, not from himself but from the eyes of the law. And discovers that under his boisterous and egoistic exterior is a compassionate human being for whom the law of justice is more important than the law of the jungle. He ends up joining Ravi and Vijay in their fight for right. As these three men set off on their crusade, each of them also find love. From the trusting, simple miners and their families who see these men as messiahs and from three women. Sudha (Raakhee), a doctor who is as kind and caring as she is beautiful and sees Vijay's bleeding, repenting heart behind his stone-hard exterior, Anita (Parveen Babi) a reporter who falls in love with Ravi's fearless, clear-eyed belief in justice and in himself and Shanno (Neetu Singh), a gypsy whose sparkling eyes and racy sales pitch snares even the hardened heart of Mangal. Kaala Patthar is inspired by a real-life mining disaster that happened in India in the history of mining industry. On 27th Dec'75, the 'Chasanala' charcoal mine got flooded with water in which 572 workers were caught. It is an intensely dramatic film about the human heart. That as long as it beats with love and with hope, there will always be a dawn waiting at end of the blackest of nights. With a multi-star cast, a lively musical score and a nail-biting climax, Yash Chopra has made Kaala Patthar a memorable exception to the exquisitely soft, glamorous love stories that have become his hallmark. The technical side of the movie was good. The sets & make-up helped the film to become more realistic. Amitabh Bachchan's withdrawal into solitude was impressive. With a flame of anger in his eyes & confidence in his actions, he delivers minimum words and still makes an impact. Shatrughna Sinha is also good with his own style. Shashi Kapoor with his smart look is charming. Remaining Rakhi, Neetu Singh etc. are okay. The tea-stall confrontation between Bachchan and Sinha is probably the most explosive encounter between two heroes ever in Indian cinema; and Bachchan comes out with a subdued, yet strong performance.

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.

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.

Kaala Patthar review :

A lesser celebrated film of director Yash Chopra; Kaala Patthar was loosely based on the real life Chasnala mining disaster with some wonderful characters written by the legendary Salim Javed.

Amitabh Bachchan is Vijay, an ex army officer who is working as a mine worker in order to forget his past guilt. Shatrughan Sinha in his career best act played Mangal, an escaped convict who takes a job in the mine to evade the cops while Shashi Kapoor is the honest and 'dil ka achcha' engineer who warns the greedy mine owner (Prem Chopra) against the impending flood in the mine.

The performances were universally first rate. Amitabh Bachchan spoke through his eyes and his simmering intensity reaches a crescendo when he yells at Prem Chopra in a superbly executed scene. Shatru's "Teesre baadshah hum hai" is still memorable and oft repeated catchphrase. Prem Chopra was apt as Dhanraj Puri, the loathesome mine owner who treats his employees like slaves. Rakhee, Parveen Babi and Neetu Singh provided the romantic angle to the three heroes.

Kaala Patthar was a technically slick and well executed disaster drama but despite all its positives, didn't work that well with the audience. Maybe, it was the grim subject and lack of comedy which kept them away.

Nevertheless, this is one of Bachchan's finest performance. Whether it is the scene where he grabs a knife from Sharat Saxena or the rescue operation in the climax, Amitabh was simply extraordinary. He as well as Shatrughan Sinha were nominated for the Best actor and best supporting actor at the Filmfare awards that year. Unfortunately, they didnt win the honours. Just like the film!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.