Koyelaanchal (2014) User Reviews

Engrossing In Parts!

[namashi_1 · 6/10 · 9 May 2014]

'Koyelaanchal', a crime-drama, is engrossing, but only in parts. Director Ashuu Trikha delivers a story of brutality & injustice with conviction, but an erratic Screenplay acts as a deterrent.

'Koyelaanchal' brings to light the explosive story of the people who have kept our precious fuel station at ransom for centuries. It unveils itself through Saryu Bhan Singh, an ex-owner turned Mafioso of the region, who through his sheer brutality & blatant defiance of law of the land, forces the people & the authorities to acknowledge him as their 'maalik'. Any protest, any voice of dissent against him is dealt with spine chilling violence. But, things take a turn when an uptight officer comes in town & battles against the kingpin & company.

'Koyelaanchal' has an average first-hour, but a gripping second. The first-hour concentrates more on gruesome violence, which to be very honest, is off-putting. However, the second-hour is arresting & powerful. The confrontation scenes between the villain & hero, are solid, while the child abduction track, is well-handled, as well.

The Screenplay is a mixed bag. At times slow, at times engrossing. A stronger screenplay was certainly needed! Ashuu Trikha has Directed the film with conviction. His handling of this disturbing subject, is indeed note-worthy. Cinematography is top-notch. Editing is fairly done. Action-Sequences are very brutal.

Performance-Wise: Suniel Shetty is in terrific form. He's tough when needed & also restrained when required. He triumphs with a super act! Vinod Khanna enacts the godfather like evil villain, with command. The veteran is fabulous. Vippino is effectively scary. Roopali Krishnarao is excellent. Ashuu Trikha, himself, shows up in a cameo. He's good.

On the whole, 'Koyelaanchal' works in bits & pieces.

A decent film by Ashu Trikha

[silvan-desouza · 6/10 · 21 June 2014]

Ashu Trikha debuted as a director with Deewanapan(2001) which also was a comeback of Vinod Khanna, it bombed then he made ALAG which too was a flop, Last year he cameback with Enemmy which too didn't work He is back with Koyeelanchal, Irrespective of it's B.O. Outcome the film is a decent film. The film sheds light on coal mafia which is well handled, though the first half does seem prolonged, even several ill-fitted masala scenes were not required, however the twist in the tale when Sunil's wife gets hit and his child gets kidnapped is well handled, the scenes that follow are well handled however the climax could be better Ashu Trikha handles the tricky subject well, writing could be better though Music is okay

Vinod Khanna is in terrific form after a long time, he is simply brilliant as the Mafiosi Suneil Shetty too is in terrific form, he underplays his part superbly Vipino is terrific as Karua, Roopali and Purva are fantastic rest are okay

Koyelaanchal tries to incorporate typical Bollywood masala, but fails to create an impact.

[binducherungath · 5/10 · 14 May 2014]

Koyelaanchal, a film by Ashu Trikha, focuses on one of the oldest mafia prevailing in our country i.e. coal mafia. The movie projects the usual plot of the good vs. evil, the challenges faced by officers who try to question the system laid down by the mafia. Whoever tries to even think against the mafia are wiped out very brutally and conveniently. Movie has moments of spine chilling violence by the mafia, Maoists movements as well. Ashu Trikha tries to touch upon 'Ecological Disaster' as well.

Saryu Bhan Singh (Vinod Khanna) is the undisputed Maalik in Rajapur in Koyelaanchal since last 40 years. In spite of the government understanding the irregularities associated with country's one of the most important and useful resource coal's illegal trade, nothing is being done in order to set the things right. Atrocities continue.

The beginning scene itself is very disturbing: Children are playing football, they happen to witness the manager of Saryu Bhan Singh – Babu Lal Yadav, being attacked and killed by Bhushan (a traitor from Saryu's group) along with Maoists. After the attackers go, one child goes and picks up their football (without even bothering about the dead body) which is red lying in the blood, and very coolly goes and washes his football with water. This scene reflects that how common these killings are in Rajapur, even the children are so used to these things.

There is Raniganj, a neighbouring village of Rajapur, where Karua (Vipinno) is shown, Saryu Bhan's one of the most loyalist, strongest and tough henchman. He is a terror for Saryu's 'enemies'. In Saryu's enemies' words, Karua is Saryu's Khunkar Kutta (brutal dog). Karua speaks less throughout the movie, only his 'actions' speak. For Karua, his Lord is Saryu Bhan. There is a scene, where Karua washes the feet of Saryu Bhan and drinks that water, which showed the unquestioned loyalty of Karua towards his Maalik / Godfather.

Karua is given much of screen time, where he with the blessings of Saryu Bhan, murders every single person who rose voice against Saryu Bhan viz. Govardhan Das Vidrohi (an activist and maseeha for Koyelaanchal), Debashish Ghosh (Advocate, Nasru (in jail), Bhushan etc.

Saryu Bhan is projected as a spiritual person who does not miss his single aradhanna and on the other side, his people are murdering his opponents.

A new collector Nisheeth Kumar (Suniel Shetty) takes the charge and that is when the challenges for Saryu Bhan Singh begins. Nisheeth studies the irregularities in the coal-trading and when he tries to highlight those issues, as expected, he and his family become the target of Saryu. There are officers like Kannan Ayyar (Central Bureau Investigation officer) and a few others joining Nisheeth in his efforts to end Saryu Bhan Singh's monopoly in the region. Saryu gives orders to Karua to threaten Nisheeth and family, but things go haywire since Nisheeth's child is left in his vehicle when Karua runs away with Nisheeth's vehicle.

How Nisheeth reacts? How Saryu Bhan responds to the various unexpected events happening around him ? Does the undisputed leader of Koyelaanchal ever get arrested (who was never arrested during the last 40 years of his reign)? How do other officers support Nisheeth in getting his child back from Karua? Does Karua end up hurting the child or the child's presence brings some transformation in Karua ? Why did the script include so many times F**** words, was it required at all?

The dialogue by Nisheet's wife on being asked whether she is afraid of the proceedings at Koyelaanchal – When a lady survives the fear and pain of the labour room, she understands that if one wants new hopes in life then he or she has to bear a few sufferings as well is good, but is it practical?

What was the intention of the director Ashu Trikka behind making this movie, was it to highlight one of the oldest mafia of our country i.e. coal mafia, or to focus upon Maoists movements with Deshi Bombs and Katta, or upon the social activists who are trying to bring some reforms or the helplessness of the government or bureaucracy in not being able to fight the mightier illegal traders.

Gets lost in an excessive effort made, without a solid storyline.

[bobbysing · 3/10 · 2 June 2014]

Coal Mafia is the oldest mafia in existence and our film-makers have re- discovered the thrilling premise of coal-mines after a long gap post KALA PATTHAR (1979) and KALKA(1983). However this time with films like GANGS OF WASSEYPUR (2013), GUNDEY(2014) and now KOYELAANCHAL, the focus is not actually on the coal mines and its workers but on the illegal owners which rule the region without caring about any police or government rule.

Beginning with some 'heard before' kind of explanations of how coal is looted from these mines openly, the film does come up with some better visuals of the subject as compared to the two recent projects mentioned above. Further with a fine sequence of a child washing his blood strained football and kicking it again, it indicates something interesting coming up next having some great clashes between the two veterans Vinod Khanna and Suniel Shetty. But unfortunately the script goes on a completely weird and unexpected path in the mid-way, revolving around an accidentally kidnapped infant and a rude-tough killer hiding the child in his house for a week or so. The conflict track between the local mafia and an honest collector takes a back seat for a while and only returns towards the end with more unrequired angles pulling the film in many contrasting undefined directions.

Lacking a solid storyline and a purposeful script, KOYELAANCHAL keeps struggling to make a decent impact somehow through its various characters. But due to an over excessive effort in almost everything ranging from a loud background score, weak action sequences, shivering camera movements, weird inserts (like the one with the naked lady) to an indecisive & unimpressive direction, the actual film gets lost somewhere in its own progression, unable to make a comeback right till the climax. The lead actors try hard to make it as tense as possible but the hamming performances of the supporting cast never let them achieve the desired result.

In short, the vision before commencing the shoot might have been of making a hard hitting explosive film shot on actual locations with two veteran actors. But the end product manages to interpret only 10-15% of that projected vision and thus can only be given marks for some well shot coal mine sequences in the beginning, few good scenes of clashes and the effort made by the team shooting on the tough locations. In fact, minus the sub-plot involving the infant, the film could have become an entirely different project to say it all.