42 years of Kaala Patthar: Big B recalls first job in Dhanbad coal mines

Remembering Yash Chopra's 1979 film Kala Patthar, Amitabh Bachchan shared a poster of the iconic film on Instagram and revealed that he had worked in the coal mines in Dhanbad and Asansol.

Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Tuesday celebrated 42 years of filmmaker Yash Chopra's 1979 classic Kaala Patthar and remembered how, just like in the movie, he also worked in coal mines before joining the industry. The Salim-Javed penned drama was said to be based on the 1975 Chasnala mining disaster, which killed 375 miners after there was an explosion in the mine followed by flooding.

The film featured Bachchan as an ex-Navy Captain working in mines and also starred Shatrughan Sinha as his co-worker Mangal, an escaped convict and Shashi Kapoor as an engineer in charge of the mines. Bachchan took to Instagram and posted a collage from the film. The 78-year-old actor said Kaala Patthar was a special film as it had several parallels with his real life, including working in the mines of Dhanbad and Asansol.

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"42 years of Kala Patthar... Phew! Been a while and so many incidents in the film from my personal experiences when I worked in the Coal Dept of my Calcutta Company, my first job before joining the movies... actually working in the Coal mines in Dhanbad and Asansol," he wrote.

Kaala Patthar also featured Rakhee, Parveen Babi, Neetu Singh, Prem Chopra and Mac Mohan.The film earned acclaim for its performances and is remembered for chartbusters like Ek Raasta Hai Zindagi, Baahon Mein Teri, composed by Rajesh Roshan with lyrics penned by Sahir Ludhianvi.

Kaala Patthar marked the fourth collaboration between Bachchan, Chopra and Kapoor, after blockbusters like the 1975 drama Deewaar, Kabhie Kabhie (1976) and Trishul in 1978.