It's a car alright but it can fly through the cloud, battle the waves, scratch the road with speed, fight evils and even kill. Little wonder then the car, which can even put the mean machines in the James Bond films to shame, is the real hero in a soon to be released Hindi movie "Taarzan-The Wonder Car".

In a one of its kind initiative in India, Taarzan, the hero on four wheels, can do everything that any hero of a Bollywood film does - with except of course run after the heroine and sing songs around trees!

And none other than master car designer Dilip Chhabria has designed the hero in this action thriller, produced by Gordhan Tarwani and directed by the Abbas-Mastan duo.

"Abbas-Mastan approached me in mid 2002 and asked to design a car that would play the main role in the film," said Chhabria, the promoter of DC Design that provides designing related services to the automotive industry.

The DC Design brand has a huge following in India and is associated with creating eye catching and exciting automotive products. "It was a very challenging task. I had designed so many cars for movies but Taarzan had to be different. After all, he is the hero of the movie," Chhabria tells.

The work on this "wonder car" started in September 2002 and continued till June 2003, he said while refusing to divulge the amount he has invested on its production, although media reports put the figure at Rs.20 million.

"While I was designing the car my focus was very clear...the car has to elicit a wow from youngsters. It has to be sporty, aggressive and with features that one expects in a real movie hero," said Chhabria.

"Taarzan had to look believable and yet distinctive."

The theme of the film story revolves around Taarzan that has been designed by a mechanic while working in the junkyard. And the upgraded car decides to take revenge on a bunch of unscrupulous guys.

The car is modelled on the Toyota VR2 chassis and has been deliberately made to look disjointed in the middle. One can see through the middle of the car at certain angles.

Chhabria, who worked in the designing department of General Motors in Detroit after completing graduation in India, says the colour of the car and other accessories were painstakingly selected to create "tremendous" visual impact.

On the target audience, the designer says "Taarzan-The Wonder Car" has been created for people in the age group of nine to 25.

"Today, there is so much interest among youngsters in automobiles. They crave for new models that have a very futuristic design. And Taarzan will definitely meet their dream of a macho machine."

Chhabria, who has over 450 exclusively designed cars on the road, is positive about the success of the film, to be released across the country Aug 6.

"I think these days people have become tired of watching formula movies. Previously, cars were used as props in films but in 'Taarzan-The Wonder Car' the car is the real hero.

"It's a radical departure for the Indian film industry and I am quite sure that people will love this absolutely new concept."