Vikram Bhatt makes an elaan!

If Elaan has a USP, it is, undoubtedly, the return of Mithun Chakraborty. The uncrowned disco king of the 1980s stages a comeback with this Vikram Bhatt film. This time, not as a hero, but as Baba Sikandar, a terrorist by profession and extortionist by passion!

Mithun, wearing a camouflage green cargo trousers and an informal shirt with buttons open, was present in full glory at the star-studded audio release function of Elaan in Mumbai.

Apart from Mithun, the Ratan Jain production stars John Abraham, Arjun Rampal, Rahul Khanna, Lara Dutta, Amisha Patel and Chunkey Pandey.

Don't Miss! Vote! Best Actor, 2004! Vote! Best Actress, 2004!

Elaan

"I wanted to shoot the film in Egypt as well. But since the authorities refused to grant permission, I could not," says Vikram Bhatt. "I decided on Europe because the story required a lot of snow in the backdrop." If the promos screened during the function are an indicator, the shots look breathtaking.

The locales might have been ideal for the script, but not for the stars. Says Lara, "The film was mostly shot during the winter under subzero conditions. And it was really difficult for us to perform in such a situation!"

Bhatt agrees and adds that the entire unit worked hard to make the film.

The film has an interesting, albeit cliché, storyline. Baba Sikandar (Mithun Chakraborty) is a dreaded international criminal wanted dead or alive by the Indian police. But he manages to evade an arrest every time by fleeing to a country with which India does not have an extradition treaty.

Baba kills Kantilal Shah, friend, philosopher and father of Karan (played by Rahul Khanna). Karan is the inheritor of the huge business empire and wants to avenge his father's murder by bringing Baba Sikandar back to India. Alive.

In his mission, he is helped by Arjun (Arjun Rampal), a police officer who has been sacked, Abhimanyu (John Abraham), a petty criminal who moves into drug dealing, Sonia (Lara Dutta), a bar dancer, and Priya (Amisha Patel), a television journalist. What follows is a hide and seek drama across the world.

"The action scenes (by Abbas Ali Moghul) have been done with special care and are comparable to Hollywood movies," claims Jain.

Bhatt says, "The audience will see Mithun in a role in which they have never seen him before. This was actually Ratan Jain's suggestion. He asked me to cast Mithun for Baba Sikandar's role. When we approached him, he liked the script and agreed."

This will be Mithun's second film with Vikram Bhatt after Gunehegar in 1995.

The music, by Anu Malik, comprises of an interesting mix of romantic ballads and item songs. Not to forget the comical Andarlu mandarlu. The songs have been penned by Sameer and sung by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Gayatri Iyer and Anu Malik himself.