Elaan

Fortunately, I haven't seen any of the other movies that many reviewers state have had bits copied from them in Elaan. So, I didn't think this was a bad film. The multiple location approach made for great scenery (although I had to laugh when they gave the impression that Venice and the Swiss Alps are around the corner from each other) and gave a bit of a 007 air to the story.

What drew me to the movie was the cast. I hadn't seen much of their earlier work, so this was a good chance to see what they could do. Rahul Khanna holds his own as does Arjun Rampal, so hopefully this will lead to more films for both of them. Amisha Patel and Lara Dutta are good enough. It's not their faults if some of their dialog is lame. John Abraham is good at being angry, fighting, and looking sexy in songs, but other than that, he's not believable. Even his voice seemed monotone at times as if he was just reading the lines in the playback. It's really Mithun Chakraborthy who is the star of this film. He nailed his role as the bad guy by showing that fear can be generated without shouting at people all the time. I really believed his character's evil mind. Thank goodness they didn't make him sing and dance...

I just saw this movie on weekend and loved every bit of it !! i don't know whether its going to be a hit commercially but it was fun action packed ride. very few Indian films match upto the technical quality shown in this film, it is heavily inspired by classics like shaan and sholay but the subject of catching a terrorist is treated differently and effectively, critics said the film lacks in content but it was never meant to be a dramatic fare. it lives upto the best in the genre of action thrillers. after "dhoom" this is the best Indian action film. performances were good and good to see mithun back on the big screen after a long time. if u like action movies you will love this one.

8 out of 10.

I too thought Elaan was interesting, although the musical songs didn't particularly stand out. The cast were all good-looking -- Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Amisha Patel, and even Rahul Khanna were all nice to look at. As far as the action scenes, some of the stuff was interesting in a "Sword of Gideon" type of way, but it was all over-the-top in a way that's typical of all Indian movies. It was nice to see some of India's best bodies and faces altogether in a scenic European backdrop. Even the mobster guy projected a unique malevolence. I think that a lot of Indian critics typically base their praise or criticism of any movie based on how politically correct it is. If it has any type of politically serious tone to it (eg. anti-terrorism) instead of the usual frivolous fantasy fluff, then there are a lot of left-wing writers who'll pounce to make any nitpick they can. So I'd say it's an entertaining over-the-top action thriller, but don't try to bash it by comparing it to Shakespeare.

While, to an extent, I do believe from reading the comments of other reviewers that the movie lacked a good storyline, and the characters are somewhat unbelievable, I liked this movie for amazing acting, despite the character flaws; I liked it because the tactics used in the movie are amazingly realistic and for the most part, practical. Sure, movies are often exaggerated and this one is no exception, some are exaggerated beyond the realms of acceptable beliefs of reality. This, however, is just within the confines of it. I enjoyed the movie and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys tactical warfare...to the smaller scale. Hope it helped!

One more Masala movie released on the same day along with another masala movie Insan. One more time Sholay (1975) has been revisited and that too by Vikram Bhatt whose every movie is plagiarize of a Hollywood pictures and even this time also there are so many scenes which are lifted from different Hollywood products. Even Sholay was a mixture of 2 to 3 Hollywood movies i.e. The Seven Samurai, The magnificent 7, Once upon in a west.

This time the Thakur role is played by Rahul Khanna, Jai and Veeru roles are played by Arjun Rampal and John Abraham and Gabbar role went to the Legendary Actor Mithun Chakraborty who has made a comeback in A grade movies with Elaan and will win the nomination in the best villain category. He has given a remarkable performance after Gudiyareleased in 98.

Rahul Khanna has debuted in the commercial cinema with this movie and has done a great job. He performed his role with confidence. John Abraham has gone overboard in few sequences and also in his introductory action scene (which is a lift from First Blood 3 a.k.a. Rambo 3. I think Vikram like that action scene because he used that action scene in Awara Pagal Deewana for Sunil Shettys introductory action scene). Arjun Rampal is functional and has given a conventional performance. Amisha Patel has done a good job after Humraaz.She was looking gorgeous in this movie and got more footage than the Lara Dutta and why not she is the girlfriend of the captain of he ship, I mean the director of the film, Vikram Bhatt. Lara Dutta has done her stunts by herself (she tried to become like Lara Croft) but has nothing much to do except showcasing her attractive face and body. Ritu Shivpuri has done fine job in a short role. One wonders she should have got a full fledge role in this movie and why the directors are not casting her in their movies. Chunky Pandey has also done a fine job in a short role.

Escaping from the prison is a direct lift from Spy Game. And even Arjuns first action scene is a lift from Hard Target. The major setback in the movie is the climax. The way they trap Mithun makes you wonder if he really all that powerful (as it has been shown in the beginning of the film that his phone call can sound your death knell) and he does nothing except sitting silently in a room. What happened to all that flames, anger and poison? Elaan has few scenes lifted from Loha released in 87 and China Gate released in 98 which were also inspired by the movies The Seven Samurai, The magnificent 7, Once upon in a west. Scenes like when Shatrughan Sinha promises his son (young jugal hansraj) in the movie Loha that he will take him for holidays but the mission comes in between and he leave for mission and break his promise and also when Naseeruddin Shah wants to adopt a girl in the movie China Gate and he dies and after that Om Puri does the service. In Elaan too, Arjun make promise to his child but breaks it because of the mission and when he dies in the end Rahul adopts his child.

Cinemography is of first rate. Well penned dialogues and good choreography. Appealing background score.

As predicted, it will do a good business in interiors and its good news for Mithun Chakraborty fans that they will get to see a good movie with a good performance by the Legend. 21/2 Out of 5.