Good concept, poorly executed.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I thought it was an Indianized version of Lord Jim, which was itself based on the true story of the abandonment of a ship called PATNA! In Lord Jim too the protagonist lives with the fact of his own cowardice and eventually redeems himself by taking on ugly forces that prey on the poor and weak. Kaala Paththar had two other men in the story - and followed the usual 70s/80s cliché of the man with the criminal background having to die in the end. But it was also quite uncliched in having no overt romantic track between Shashi and Parveen Babi, and a very quiet connection between Amitabh and Rakhi. Rakhi never enunciated well in Hindi and it got worse in moments of agitation. Here she did not have to speak much and was OK. I always liked Neetu Singh and she was good in this one too. Shatru was never a favorite but he was quite restrained here IMO. For a film from the 70s, this was indeed quite a different one and I enjoyed it. Amitabh was excellent as the coward, then the slowly burning up with self-disgust man, and finally as the hero. The mine disaster was well shot and the dark and claustrophobic kind of picturization made is seem realistic. There were not really many songs to disrupt the narrative - another unique feature for a film of its time. Fr instance, no sad number with wailing violins as the hero sits and stares at the stars and broods over his past! I gave it 8/10.

Kaala Patthar is a meaningful movie with a good theme as well as entertainment.The plot of Kaala Patthar is hard to describe, because the whole story is molded through strong characters. The three center characters are Vijay Pal Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), Ravi Malhotra (Shashi Kapoor), and Mangal Singh (Shatrugan Sinha). All of these men work in the same coal mine company which is owned by Seth Dhanraj (Prem Chopra).Everyday, workers are treated with injustice. Seth Dhanraj is only interested in making his own money, and he could care less about the welfare of the thousands of people that work at his mine.Vijay Pal Singh is known for his bravery around the mine. He saves people that are in trouble, and is always for justice. But Vijay himself believes that he is a coward, because he has a past that he does not share with anyone. Anyone except for a new doctor in town, Dr. Sudha Sen (Rakhee), who Vijay communicates well with. She also has a past, and both of them are broad-minded. Hmmnn, we all know what that means! :-D Ravi Malhotra is hired as the engineer for Seth Dhanraj. He isn't heartless like Seth Dhanraj though, he cares about the needs and wants of the people who work at the mine. Ravi can basically be called a leader for the workers. On the job, he is reacquainted with an old friend and now-turned journalist, Anita (Parveen Babi). She also cares about the people, even though she is the rich daughter of Seth Dhanraj's friend.Mangal Singh is a criminal who escapes from jail and ends up at the mine. He is very egotistical and likes to cause trouble. But through the tough times and the events surrounding the coal mine, he changes, and he becomes one of the many members who are in the battle against Seth Dhanraj for justice. He also saves a and falls in love with Channo (Neetu Singh), who is a jewelery seller who is liked by everyone.So with so many wonderful people, will the fight for justice end? Or will it all end up in tragedy? Watch Kaala Patthar to find out.Actingwise, everyone did a great job, and that's mostly what held the whole movie together. The star cast was well-chosen by Yash Chopra. Of course as usual, Amitabh Bachchan steals the show. His intensity mixed up with his coal-covered look make him light up the screen and he is a delight to watch. Shashi Kapoor and Shatrugan Sinha were wonderful. Both of them were funny in many scenes, and they played their characters perfectly.The heroines, though none of them have too much of a role, make a big impact on the film. Rakhee is flawlessly beautiful, and she acts very well. She even made me cry in a few scenes. Neetu Singh plays her innocent, funny character well. She also dances good. Parveen Babi spoke her dialogs with much emotion and she suited the fashionable type role.The music is not exactly the highlight of the film. The background music was directed by Salil Chowdary, and it was quite effective during the movie. Especially the music that's given when Amitabh stands up when he's mad hehehe. Anyway, Rajesh Roshan songs were average and aren't really worth listening to (in my opinion), except one song that I enjoyed, "Dhoom Mache Dhoom" by Lata and Rafi. Lata, Rafi, Kishore, and Mehendra Kapoor (who is given many meaningful lines to sing) all sing very nicely...it was just the tunes that were not that great.And last but not least, Yash Chopra's direction. It was very professional. He could have easily made it a boring movie, but he didn't. He made good choices for dialog writers (good old Salim-Javed) and the art director (Sudhendu Roy). It was nice of Yashji to choose an important topic so the audience would have a taste of what goes on in the coal mines, and how rich people can deceive the poor. The story itself is based on the Chasnala Coal Mine tragedy in Bihar. The only mistake Yash Chopra makes is his ending, and you'll have to see for yourself to know what I mean.So basically, Kaala Patthar is a movie worth watching, you'll be entertained and you'll be touched. Great movie!

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.

One of the better Yash Chopra films which alongside The Burning Train is among the rare disaster films in India. The film was made in the wake of the Chasnala mining disaster in Dhanbad in which hundreds of miner were killed in an underground flood. Set in a small mining town, the film does a quick description of various characters in the mix -- an idealistic engineer Ravi(Shashi Kapoor), a lonely medic Sudha (Rakhee), an exploitative mine owner Dhanraj (Prem Chopra) and several colorful miners including an escaped convict Mangal (Shatrughan). The film quickly centers on brooding court martialled officer Vijay (Amitabh) who works as a coal miner as an escape / self-flagellation for an act of cowardice several years ago. The engineer's warnings to cease underground operations is rejected by the greedy owners, leading to the protracted climax of the actual disaster. As the disaster unfolds, the three protagonists - Ravi, Mangal, and Vijay seek their own redemption in the rescue operations. An entertainingly hammy Shatrughan Sinha and Amitabh in his angry young man element made the film a cult classic despite being a failure at the box office.