When
the
gods
holler,
the
skies
open
up.
Such
is
the
milieu
of
monstrous
mayhem
and
diabolic
allegiances
that
courses
through
the
veins
of
this
earthy
robust
and
homespun
film
about
the
coal
mafia
in
Dhanbad.
Meticulously
researched
and
intricately
written
by
Vishal
Vijay
Kumar
and
Sanjay
Masoom,
it
is
evident
from
the
start
that
a
whole
lot
of
careful
plotting
and
planning
has
gone
into
this
tale
of
melodramatic
dimensions
filled
with
characters
who
shriek
and
protest
even
when
they
are
in
the
wrong.
Not
the
meek,
but
the
strong
and
the
powerful
inherit
the
earth
occupied
by
Trikha's
trenchant
drama.
Initially
it
is
difficult
to
get
a
hang
of
the
murky
ethics
and
violent
machinations
of
a
district
run
by
a
powerful
coal
mafioso
and
his
army
of
well
trained
goons.
It
takes
time
to
understand
how
deeply
a
corrupt
man
could
get
in
the
face
of
wealth
and
power.
The
badlands
of
Jharkhand
and
the
pitch
dark
societal
sickness
of
the
community
that
exists
in
and
around
the
coal
mines
of
Dhanbad
flicker
to
life
in
this
strikingly
shot
film.
The
theme
and
the
violent
trigger-happy
treatment
may
remind
you
of
Anurag
Kashyap's
Gangs
Of
Wasseypur.
Banish
that
thought.
In
Koyelaanchal
Trikha
manages
to
hold
his
own.
Though
the
crowd
of
characters
and
the
criss-crossing
enmity
is
initially
difficult
to
pin
down,
the
plot
finally
converges
on
three
main
characters,
the
coal
mafioso
(Vinod
Khanna)
his
blindly
devoted
henchman
(played
by
an
imposingly
structured
impassive
hulk
Vipinno)
and
the
district
collector
(Suniel
Shetty).
There's
a
strongly
written
female
part
of
a
spunky
self-dependent
prostitute,
played
by
newcomer
Rupali
Krishnarao,
who
remind
us
of
Sharmila
Tagore
in
Mausam.
This
is
a
space
that
mass-oriented
films
have
occupied
since
mainstream
cinema
came
into
being.
Co-incidences
collide
with
the
historical
perspective
of
a
town
whose
mineral
resources
are
being
blatantly
criminalised.
It's
not
easy
to
convert
a
politically
surcharged
tale
populated
with
headline-making
characters,
into
a
populist
pulpy
drama.
Trikha
does
this
with
impressive
fluency.
There
are
scenes
of
unmitigated
brutality
lancing
the
film's
inky
skyline,
painting
pronounced
bloodied
images
that
pounce
on
us
like
wild
animals
in
a
forest
filled
with
sinister
beasts.
The
second
half
where
the
coal
mafioso's
lieutenant
goes
through
a
moral
reformation
is
enormously
"filmy".
That's
the
non-negotiable
territory
Trikha
has
chosen
for
his
hard
hitting
tale.
If
on
one
end
there
is
bitter
irony
in
a
provincial
journalist
making
a
clumsily
worded
documentary
on
the
health
hazards
of
the
coal
community,
on
the
other
end
there
are
wildly
improbable
twists
and
turns
in
the
plot
all
adding
up
to
a
breathless
romp
in
the
savage
heartland.
Dark
brooding
tense
and
tumultuous
Koyelaanchal
takes
us
into
the
abdomen
of
the
coal
mines
and
digs
out
a
yarn
that
grips
from
the
word
go.
Trikha
directs
with
sure
handed
intensity.
The
film
takes
extravagant
leaps
of
faith,
creates
dramatic
conflicts
within
the
lethally
compromised
political
and
bureaucratic
ambit.
It
flounders
in
balancing
out
all
the
turbulent
circumstances
that
tumble
out
in
the
fierce
narrative.
This
could
not
have
been
an
easy
film
to
make.
Applaud
the
director
for
flavouring
the
Indian
heartland
with
a
plot
that
reads
like
pulp
fiction
but
feels
like
a
slice
of
ugly
Indian
history.