I had seen 'Kaala Patthar' as a teenager and had fond memories of the film. Years later I saw the film again today (while introducing my kids to the many Amitabh Bachchan classics) and they weren't as hooked to the film as other Amitabh films. Usually I do no write reviews about old films already seen earlier but while revisiting Kaala Pathhar my views on the film kinda changed. So felt like writing.
The basic premise of 'disaster' film was something new to Bollywood that director Yash Chopra introduced. Kaala Patthar was a different film. But it wasn't essentially a daring film. Beyond its setting, Kaala Patthar resorted to the regular tropes of Hindi cinema.
From the upside was Amitabh's character setup of a sailor who abandoned his ship and was court martialed for being a coward. This angle which was directly lifted from the English film 'Lord Jim' was interesting and it was quite daring of the makers to show the lead hero with a cowardice streak. This made way for a great character conflict and potent character transformation eventually. The Amitabh-Shatrughan tashan in the film had its moments. The last 20 minutes of climactic action inside the mine was quite different from the regular action seen in Bollywood film climaxes. It might look tacky today but back then it was ahead of its time, induced good thrills and made way for some interesting character explorations.
Now for the flipside. Had the film been designed today, the climactic action would have taken a major chunk of the runtime. How one wishes to see more of that! Back then too much time was wasted over redundant song and dance (this one had at least 4 songs which went straight in fast-forward mode). Too much time is expended in initial hour in character setups. The problem with the film is that it had too many characters but could not explore most of them properly. Instead too much time was spent in repetitive scenes. Just to cite an example, Shashi Kapoor has confrontation with Prem Chopra 4 times and on the same issue. If that wasn't enough, the makers also pit Amitabh against Prem Chopra twice on the same issue just to have a typical hero-villain faceoff. Also the multiple mishaps inside the mine get repetitive after a point. Despite Amitabh having an interesting back story, you don't feel much for his character because his flashback opens much late in the film.
One of the major issues of the film is that there is no defined hook point from the start that binds the story together. One gets a sense that the film will lead to some disaster in the climax but with its multiple characters and their subplots, the narrative gets scattered. This coming from Salim Javed seemed a little surprising, knowing their hold on watertight screenwriting. Even the dialogues for that matter do not have the usual wit, crispness or originality of the writer duo and at most places gets verbose and mechanical. Seems like the writing was compromised to suit the need of formula in filmmaking.
Amitabh Bachchan extended his angry young man character from Zanjeer, Deewar and Trishul over here. He didn't get scope for any comedy here. But he was compelling in his act. I am not a Shatrughan Sinha fan but this is one of the few films where his style works. His tashan with Amitabh is one of the high points of the film. Shashi Kapoor as the sophisticated engineer gets decent role and isn't sidetracked as much as in most Bachchan films. He is charming. It was surprising to see Sanjeev Kumar in a forgettable cameo. Most other roles are underdeveloped or customary.
Had the film been as daring as it's premise, it would have been a much rewarding experience!
The basic premise of 'disaster' film was something new to Bollywood that director Yash Chopra introduced. Kaala Patthar was a different film. But it wasn't essentially a daring film. Beyond its setting, Kaala Patthar resorted to the regular tropes of Hindi cinema.
From the upside was Amitabh's character setup of a sailor who abandoned his ship and was court martialed for being a coward. This angle which was directly lifted from the English film 'Lord Jim' was interesting and it was quite daring of the makers to show the lead hero with a cowardice streak. This made way for a great character conflict and potent character transformation eventually. The Amitabh-Shatrughan tashan in the film had its moments. The last 20 minutes of climactic action inside the mine was quite different from the regular action seen in Bollywood film climaxes. It might look tacky today but back then it was ahead of its time, induced good thrills and made way for some interesting character explorations.
Now for the flipside. Had the film been designed today, the climactic action would have taken a major chunk of the runtime. How one wishes to see more of that! Back then too much time was wasted over redundant song and dance (this one had at least 4 songs which went straight in fast-forward mode). Too much time is expended in initial hour in character setups. The problem with the film is that it had too many characters but could not explore most of them properly. Instead too much time was spent in repetitive scenes. Just to cite an example, Shashi Kapoor has confrontation with Prem Chopra 4 times and on the same issue. If that wasn't enough, the makers also pit Amitabh against Prem Chopra twice on the same issue just to have a typical hero-villain faceoff. Also the multiple mishaps inside the mine get repetitive after a point. Despite Amitabh having an interesting back story, you don't feel much for his character because his flashback opens much late in the film.
One of the major issues of the film is that there is no defined hook point from the start that binds the story together. One gets a sense that the film will lead to some disaster in the climax but with its multiple characters and their subplots, the narrative gets scattered. This coming from Salim Javed seemed a little surprising, knowing their hold on watertight screenwriting. Even the dialogues for that matter do not have the usual wit, crispness or originality of the writer duo and at most places gets verbose and mechanical. Seems like the writing was compromised to suit the need of formula in filmmaking.
Amitabh Bachchan extended his angry young man character from Zanjeer, Deewar and Trishul over here. He didn't get scope for any comedy here. But he was compelling in his act. I am not a Shatrughan Sinha fan but this is one of the few films where his style works. His tashan with Amitabh is one of the high points of the film. Shashi Kapoor as the sophisticated engineer gets decent role and isn't sidetracked as much as in most Bachchan films. He is charming. It was surprising to see Sanjeev Kumar in a forgettable cameo. Most other roles are underdeveloped or customary.
Had the film been as daring as it's premise, it would have been a much rewarding experience!