The Jharkhand High Court on Friday refused to stay the screening of much-talked movie ‘Koyelaanchal’ and directed petitioner Sanjeev Singh to approach the Censor Board if he had any grievances in this regard, paving the way for its release to the applaud of cinema buffs in the State Capital.
However, the movie lovers gave the action-thriller movie, based on the working of Coal Mafia in Jharkhand, a miss in Dhanbad, the coal capital and also in Jamshedpur. The film, which was shot in Jharkhand, was surrounded in controversy over his release.
The film has been directed and produced by Ashu Trikha under the banner of AMA entertainment. The script is penned by Sanjay Masoom and music is scored by Sushant-Shankar and Sunil Singh.
Eylex Cinemas owner Ajeet Kumar said, “Koyelaanchal is receiving good response with the 80-85 per cent seat occupancy on its very first day. Even some of the shows were houseful. The film is gathering good response from the audience and even the advance booking is going on in full swing.”
The plot of Koyelaanchal revolves around ex-owner turned Mafioso, Saryu Bhan Singh (Vinod Khanna) who through his utter brutality forces the people and the authorities to consider him as their ‘Maalik’.
No one has the courage to raise their voice against him. But, the arrival of honest district collector Nisheeth Kumar (Suniel Shetty) in his region brought difficulties for him.
Fun Cinema owner Sanjay Gupta said, “The movie opened with 25- 30 per cent seat occupancy in the morning but started improving from the evening shows and would pick up in the night and at weekends.”
The badlands of Jharkhand and societal sickness in the community that exists in and around Dhanbad’s coal mines is clearly depicted in this strikingly shot film. The theme of the movie may also remind you of Gangs of Wasseypur.
Despite the heart rendering plot the movie received poor comments in Dhanbad and Bokaro.
“Only 12 tickets of DC and 20 for Special class were sold on its release date at Jitendra Talkies Bokaro,” said Jitendra Pandey, owner of the hall
Echoing him, Puja Talkies owner in Dhanbad said, “The movie has failed to draw audience to the theatre. It is a great dismal for us.”
While in Jamshedpur the opening was not heart rendering but positive comments from the public shows the movie to gain momentum in upcoming days.
Amit Agrawal, partner of GT Talkies in Jamshedpur said that though the movie received tepid response in the theatre on the opening day but the people are inquisitive about the movie.
“The movie has opened with only 40- 45 per cent occupancy but as the word of mouth spreads the movie will gather momentum in the Box Office. The performance of the actors and screenplay is impressive”, he added.
Manpreet Singh, a second year student of Mass Communication at Karim City College, said that the movie explores exploitation and greed of the people involved in the mining sector. He went on to add that after “Gangs of Wasseypur, Koyelaanchal is the movie that aptly captures the State of affairs in mining rich States like Jharkhand.
Echoing him, Nidhi Jha, a student of Jamshedpur Women’s College said that Suniel Shetty as Nisheeth Kumar and Vinod Khanna as Saryu Bhan Singh rule the movie and their performances are best till date. She said that movie captures the sorry state of mining areas and serves as an eye opener for the society.