Elaan (2005 film)

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This article is about the 2005 Hindi film. For other uses, see Elaan (disambiguation).

Elaan
Amisha Patel
Rahul Khanna
Lara Dutta
Mithun Chakraborty
CinematographyPravin Bhatt
Edited byKuldeep Mehan
Music byAnu Malik
Distributed byVenus Records & Tapes
Release date
  • 14 January 2005 (2005-01-14)
Running time
159 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Elaan (Translation: Declaration) is a 2005 Indian

Amisha Patel.[1][2][3]

Plot

Modern-day secular India is held at ransom by powerful criminal Baba Sikander (Mithun Chakraborty) and his brothers, Aftab (Milind Gunaji) and Sameer (Prithvi Zutshi). They begin by demanding money from wealthy businessmen; when their victims refuse to pay, they are killed.

One of their victims is Kantilal Shah, a rich businessman, Karan Shah (Rahul Khanna) is Kantilal's adopted son. He was a mere canteen boy who was spotted and adopted by Kantilal while trying to secretly listen to a board-room discussion. He gained his father's trust over the years and was gradually given the responsibility of running the family business, much to the chagrin of his step-sister, Anjali. Upon hearing that his father's life is in danger, Karan returns from America and convinces his father not to give in to the extortionist's demands and instead ask him to provide that amount to his past victims and their families. Kantilal agrees. Then five days later, a day after his birthday, Kantilal is gunned down in the elevator along with four of his bodyguards. Anjali openly renounces Karan and asks him not to participate in her father's funeral. A shocked and devastated Karan announces to Baba that he will apprehend and bring him to justice in India, no matter where he had to look.

However, Karan finds out that Baba is hiding in Italy, which does not have an extradition treaty with India. Thus, unable to take any legal action, Karan recruits some mercenaries to go with him to Italy and help him bring Baba back to India. The first man he chooses is a suspended former police inspector, Arjun Srivastav (Arjun Rampal), who had located and brutally killed his then pregnant wife's assailants on his own and now lives as a single parent with his school-going daughter. After some persuasion from Karan and his daughter alike, Arjun agrees.

Arjun recommends that the second man involved be Abhimanyu (

John Abraham), who is currently in Vashi Jail and had been Baba's chauffeur and hitman before being framed by Baba and his associates following a failed job. Abhimanyu is rescued in broad daylight by Arjun and his men, who were pretending to be doctors, on the pretext of a medical checkup (The escapade takes place dramatically, in a style adopted from the film Spy Game to spring Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormack
) from a Chinese prison.) Arjun and Karan convince Abhimanyu to help them with vital information about Baba and his gang in return for a heavy payment. He reluctantly agrees to do so.

The trio then go to Venice (where Baba is said to be, based on Abhimanyu's information). There, Abhimanyu meets his girlfriend Sonia (

Chunky Pandey
), one of Baba's trusted aides who had been instrumental in helping Baba set him up. The five then go and apprehend Salim and after some effort, he divulges at gunpoint that Baba is in Munich. Abhimanyu then shoots him for his betrayal. Karan finds Baba in Munich and tells him about Salim's death much to Baba's devastation, reiterating his warning that he would fulfil his promise of bringing the latter back to India at any cost.

In course of time, the group become good friends. Acting on a tip, when they go to Baba's guest house in Munich to catch him red handed, they are fooled and are then surrounded by Baba and his men. A lengthy gunfight follows, in the course of which, Arjun dies while getting into a jeep. Baba now warns Karan to leave him alone and save his own life and that of the others while there is still time. Devastated, Karan feels that bringing the others on the mission was a big mistake, much to Abhimanyu's fury. However he takes a final stand as Priya motivates him not to give up the fight at this point, reasoning that he had always been right, once when he had asked his father not to give in to Baba's demands and even now, when he had decided to gather the group to bring Baba back to India.

Karan and Abhimanyu, now go to apprehend Baba as he leaves the country through the French border. Sonia and Priya alert the French Border Police as France has an extradition treaty with India. The trick works, as Baba is cornered by Karan, Abhimanyu and the French border police just as he is crossing the border. A long and devastating gunfight ensues, at the end of which many of Baba's most trusted aides are killed. Finally, Baba is left alone and stranded after Karan stops Abhimanyu from shooting him, reasoning that the terror Baba inspired in people had to end and this would thus end Baba's life in turn.

Baba is sent to India, sentenced to death and hanged. Karan becomes a national hero for his feat. He reconciles with his sister and finally marries Priya. The couple adopt Arjun's daughter, Ayesha. Abhimanyu and Sonia also get married and settle down in Venice.

Cast

Soundtrack

Elaan
Feature film soundtrack
LabelVenus Records & Tapes

All lyrics are written by

Gayatri Ganjawala
 

Critical response

Namrata Joshi of

BBC.com gave the film 2 out of 5, writing: "Sadly, the ending is as obvious as the love story sub-plots, and you never really fear the wrath of Sikander, played by 80s Bollywood disco king Chakraborty (India's answer to John Travolta post his Saturday Night Fever heyday). Even Bhatt's execution of Matrix-style action scenes and overuse of hapless goons is predictable. What could have been a stylish vendetta flick turns out to be 'time pass' - Indian slang for average."[5] Merril Diniz of Rediff.com wrote: "If you're a die-hard John Abraham fan, then go ahead and watch the film because he looks like a million bucks and delivers a good performance. But there's not much else to hold your interest for three whole hours."[3]

References

  1. ^ "Elaan - movie review by Narbir Gosal - Planet Bollywood".
  2. ^ "Elaan". Archived from the original on 11 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Elaan doesn't have much hope!".
  4. ^ "Elaan". www.outlookindia.com/. 5 February 2022.
  5. ^ "BBC - Movies - review - Elaan". www.bbc.co.uk.

External links

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