Koyelaanchal(meaning Coal Belt), is the story of a mafia lord Saryu Bhan Singh(Vinod Khanna) , the uncrowned king of Rajapur, a ravaged coal town, whose inhabitants have death haunting them from twin forces. The ever burning coal fields with black soot permeating the air they breath and consequently causing severe lung infections on one hand and on the other hand, there's Saryu Bhan Singh's adopted son, the lethal killer Karua(Vipinno) who doesn't need much prodding from his master to annihilate all opposition. Into this scenario is thrown in a righteous District Collector(Suneil Shetty) who wants to change the prevailing status quo but gets hampered by a near lethal attack on his family. The IB is called in to salvage the situation but Saryu Bhan Singh is indomitable and Karua, totally unhinged. So nothing goes as planned especially since the collector's son is under Karua's forced protection.
The script goes haywire trying to justify an unbelievable and untenable transformation- that of a remorseless killer into a haloed savior. While the film starts of as a story about Saryu Bhan Singh and his all encompassing power over the coal belt, it ends up as a reformist's tale cobbled together by the sacrifices of a whore (Roopali Krishnarao)with a heart of gold and the unbiased love of a young child. The dialogues are over-the-top with corny references to hinterland power imbalances, the plotting is generically nihilistic with accompanying performances fitting in like card-board postures. There's little emotion to be had, the action is gruesome and concentrated on blood-letting and in effect makes for a giant headache. Even Vinod Khanna's sincere effort to lend gravitas comes a cropper. Frankly what you see is what you get here.. nothing more, nothing less!
Rating: **
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