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Koyelaanchal backdrop

Koyelaanchal

9 May 2014Hindi2h 26m
Drama
out of 10
Unfavorablemost critics didn't like it
Monk Score · 9 scored reviews · 2 not rated

A melodramatic coal-country thriller sunk by a weak script and dated execution.

Verdict tier Unfavorable, most critics didn't like it, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.

  • Praised: coal mafia setting and backdrop
  • Criticised: weak script and melodramatic execution

Audience

User score 1.0 out of 10 from 1 rating, not enough ratings for a verdict yet

Top cast

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Critic consensus

What 11 critics are saying

Critical reception for Koyelaanchal is overwhelmingly negative, with most reviewers advising audiences to skip it. The most common criticisms centre on a weak screenplay, melodramatic excess, and poor production values that critics likened to mindless 1990s cinema. A small minority found merit in the film's engagement with the coal mafia setting and its second-half momentum, but even measured praise came with significant reservations about pacing and execution. No aspect of the film drew broad enthusiasm across the critical consensus.

How the 9 scores spread

2 not-rated reviews aren't plotted

Positive / mixed / negative reviews

Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10

AI-generated summary of 11 critic reviews · may contain errors

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From the papers

Critic reviews (11)

Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated

  1. SKJBollywoodNews

    Film review ·

    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.

  2. Bollywood Hungama

    Film review ·

    ...is absorbing and engaging, especially towards the second half. Should find its share of audience at single screens specifically.

  3. Mid-Day

    Film review ·

    If cringing in your seats is your favourite exercise, watch this one. Otherwise, avoid it. Your eardrums will thank you.

  4. NowRunning

    Film review ·

    You only wish they used as much work on the screenplay. The film, with a close to one-and half hour second half after a relatively shorter first could have been much shorter if worked on with precision. This is where the director loses way and then there is no looking back. Buy a ticket? No! Definitely not when there are infinitely better films releasing in the same week!

  6. Glamsham

    Film review ·

    Another movie which gets us to visit the 90s kind of cinema, some of which were mindless amalgamation of scenes.

  7. Mumbai Mirror

    Film review ·

    Commercialism, greed, murder, chaos, brutality, self-indulgence...the filmmakers are guilty of all these traits.

  8. BookMyShow

    Film review ·

    The story depicts the fact that sometimes it is not power that wins battles. Battles might also be won by tenderness of a mother's love and helpless cries of a child. An underlying principle that thus runs throughout the story, this is a formula that shall never fail to touch hearts.

  10. Filmfare

    Film review ·

    All-in-all, what could have been a nice little film about a real situation becomes a caricaturish melodrama. A little sensitivity on the part of the makers would certainly have taken it up a notch or two. Instead, you long to go home and hunt for your copy of Kala Patthar.

  11. Komal Nahta's Blog

    Film review ·

    Koyelaanchal is a violent drama which becomes soft mid-way. It is a good commentary on the coal mafia but as far as its entertainment quotient is concerned, it is very limited. It will, therefore, not be able to do much at the box-office except in some pockets.

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