- Inspired by a true mining tragedy the film is about people from all walks of life showing courage and character to fight the forces of nature.
- When disaster strikes, three men stand up to fight for the coal miners. Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) a disgraced ex-naval officer is now working in the coal mine. Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) is an engineer in charge of the doomed project. Mangal (Shatrughan Sinha) is an escaped convict who finds shelter at the coal mine. KAALA PATTHAR is inspired by a true mining tragedy in Bihar.—Official Source
- Being branded a coward for abandoning his ship full of over 300 passengers. It was a stormy night, with high waves and the ship had a 10 feet big hole in it. There was no hope. Captain Vijay Pal Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), is discharged from duty, humiliated by society and disowned by his parents. Vijay had tried to stay at his post, but his entire crew mutinied, and Vijay gave in to temptation to save his own life. Feeling guilty over his cowardice and with low self-esteem, he starts working as a coal miner to forget his past. But it still continues to hunt him, he welcome pain as a punishment.
The owner of the mine is Dhanraj Puri (Prem Chopra), a carefree and irresponsible man whose mine is poorly equipped, with less than sufficient medical supplies, and no facilities for the miners and their families. The mine has frequent accidents and cave ins and has no equipment to safely rescue the workers. Vijay throws himself headlong into such situations. Vijay tries to save every workers life in order to overcome his haunted past but to no avail. Jagga (Parikshit Sahni) is a truck driver at the mine and Vijay's friend. Other miners include Rana (Mac Mohan) and Murli (Mahan Swadesh). Vijay confronts Dhanna (Sharat Saxena) to pay up the bill at the local street food vendor (Manmohan Krishna), who is also crippled. Dhanna attacks Vijay, but Vijay easily defeats him.
Mangal Singh (Shatrughan Sinha) is an escaped convict who ends up in the mine & hates the owners for not caring for workers. Mangal plays cards with Rana and loses but refuses to pay up. Although he doesn't know that Rana cheated at cards. He picks up fights with Vijay to prove that he is the boss, but Vijay doesn't back down. Mangal has a thing for Channo (Neetu Singh) who is a street vendor. He even saves Channo from being sexually assaulted by some goons from the mine.
Ravi Malhotra (Shashi Kapoor) is appointed the new engineer in the mine. He works under Chief Engineer Maneklal Saxena (Yunus Parvez), who is loyal to Dhanraj. Maneklal had told Dhanraj to stop work on Mine # 4 as it is getting close to a flooded mine. They will have to abandon Rs 40 Lakhs worth of coal, as it endangers 400 miners lives. Dhanraj says 400 miners are worth much less than Rs 40 Lakhs and orders him to continue digging. Dhanraj considers Vijay a threat and he knows that Vijay can rebel against the management any day.
Once Ravi saves Vijay's life by rescuing him after Vijay's enemies try to bury him alive inside a mine shaft by blocking the single exit. As it happened, Vijay volunteers for a dangerous job inside the mine and Dhanna traps him in a vein by collapsing the only exit. Ravi had seen Vijay go inside the vein and had not seen him come out. At the end of the day, when all workers had left, Ravi hears noises inside the mine and is able to rescue Vijay. Later, Ravi confronts Dhanna and his men at a bar and beats them up.
Ravi is romancing Dhanraj's personal journalist Anita (Praveen Babi) but is concerned about the safety standards of the mine. Dr Sudha (Rakhee) is the mine doctor & is tired for not getting any medical support or supplies from management. Dr Sudha is new to the mine and took over from Dr Mathur (Sanjeev Kumar). Gangadhar (Annu Kapoor) is Sudha's assistance. She has a soft spot for Vijay & wants to know why he keeps risking his life. Sudha and Vijay get close.
Mangal sees that Vijay has a thing for Sudha and he goes to tease Sudha and bully her, just to provoke Vijay. Vijay has the chance to get Mangal arrested when police come looking for him, but Vijay doesn't squeal on Mangal. Mangal gets into a fight with Vijay and Ravi has to come and separate them. Mangal decides to leave Vijay alone.
Ravi then becomes the union leader & successfully negotiates a 3-month bonus for workers from Dhanraj. Dhanraj wanted to pay 1-month bonus and get the workers to sign the papers for a 3-month bonus. Dhanraj is biding his time to get rid of Ravi. Ravi then tells Vijay & Sudha that the mines are getting closer to a lake body & if they breach the lake wall, 400 people will drown & die. As the working conditions in the mine deteriorate, Anita writes an article in the papers recommending that the mines be nationalized. She argues that workers in Government mines have far better working and living conditions than the private mines.
Vijay threatens Dhanraj when 3 more workers lose their lives when heavy rocks fall on them inside the mines. Ravi performs a 50 feet drill test in tunnel # 4 and hits wet dirt, indicating water right ahead. He stops all work on tunnel # 4. Ravi threatens Dhanraj that he will file a report with the Government for Dhanraj's inaction on safety precautions in the mine. Dhanraj is upset about Ravi & tries to bribe Vijay to kill Ravi, but Vijay insults Dhanraj & leaves. Dhanraj then hires other goons to kill Ravi inside the mine, but Vijay saves him.
Mangal saves Anita from falling rocks but is seriously hurt. Vijay carries him all the way to Sudha & that saves his life. Mangal is indebted to Vijay.
Ravi finds water seeping into the mine, but Dhanraj refuses to shut it down. As Ravi goes down to shut it down, the wall gives way & water starts to pour in. Vijay & Mangal join Ravi to save each soul.
Mangal dies, while Vijay rescues Ravi from a sunken boulder. The lift can only carry 4 people at a time. Rana uses cards to decide who stays back. In a twist of fate, he draws the lowest card and stays behind and is drowned in the water. The lift gets damaged and Jagga rigs his truck to carry the lift up and down to rescue the remaining workers. Ravi & Vijay return alive. Dhanraj is arrested.
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