Billa Special

Rajnikanth, the original Billa at last watched Ajith’s Billa at Four Frames Preview Theatre, Chennai on Thursday evening. The previous day he had just come back from Bangalore after spending his birthday there.

Ajith Kumar and Shalini Ajith Kumar arranged the show and were present throughout the screening along with director Vishnu Vardhan and producer L.Suresh. Later he is reported to have told Vishnu that he enjoyed the film and it looks slick and racy.

After the screening Super Star Rajnikanth complimented Ajith and told him- “I had a great time watching Billa, it’s well made”.

Billa – Movie Review

Cast: Ajith, Nayantara, Namitha, Prabhu, Raghuman

Direction: Vishnuvardhan

Music: Yuvanshankar Raja

Production: L.Suresh

Remakes couldn’t have had a better endorsement. If the earlier one was about the famous gangster Billa, this one takes the thrill ride a step further and the Malaysian locales adding Pizzazz to the proceedings and Ajith handling the dual role with as much élan as did Shah Rukh in the Hindi remake a year ago.

Trade Talk: The trade pundits have got it right this time; a film well marketed is half the job done and well packaged makes up for the rest.

Public Talk: Tamil audience has never seen such glitz and glamour on their screens before and as a result Ajith has been titled as Ultimate/Upcoming Super Star after the Movie release.

No. Weeks Completed: 1

No. Shows in Chennai over this weekend: 192

Average Theatre Occupancy over this weekend: 85 %

Collection over this weekend in Chennai: Rs.5,026,197

Total collections in Chennai by end of the second weekend: 1.59 Crore

Verdict: Very Good Opening

Sleek masala entertainer, is a genre which Tamil cinema is not much used to. Thanks to bravery of Vishnu and Ajith, you will see more such movies from now on.

To remake a film which was a trendsetter of its times involving someone who was and continues to be the super star, requires sharp skills and is tantamount to walking on thin ice. But where Vishnu Vardhan scores is in his crystal clear vision. He doesn’t want to challenge the original nor change its content. All he wants to do is to repackage it stylishly for today’s trend with some present avant-garde styles in film making. The deliberate attempts by the director not to follow the super star’s style are palpable in every frame which has made Billa stand out tall and high.

The story begins with a sadistic underworld don Billa (Ajith) being killed in a police chase. An officer Jai Prakash (Prabhu, wasted) substitutes a look alike wastrel Velu (Ajith again) in his place to net the whole gang, whose boss masquerades as an Interpol agent (Rahuman). An avenging belle (Nayantara, adequate) and an itinerant cop help in nailing the baddies.

Ajith as the ruthless David Billa is a revelation. Stylish, menacing and electrifying, he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and has completely lived up to it. Rajinikanth can definitely be proud of his successor he has chosen for the tough job.

The introductory scene of Nayantara rocks and is on par with such scenes of any other hero of current times. She looks fit, debonair and effortlessly sizzles. Namitha as CJ and Billa’s lover appears in glamorous outfits and satisfies her fans. Prabhu as DCP cannot be better. Rahuman as Interpol officer has done his job well. As the simpleton Velu, Ajith is lively and light, combining with Prabhu for some great moments. When asked by Prabhu to don the role of Billa, Velu expresses his dislike saying that Lord Muruga will not approve of this. When Prabhu sights sura samhara as an example, Ajith counters him saying that ‘avarukku aaru thala, aana enakku orey thala’, having his fans simply break into raptures.

So the megaphone wielder snipped off some of the supporting characters -- especially the trapeze artiste-cum-safe-breaker (played by Pran, 'Thengai' Srinivasan and Arjun Rampal in the earlier three versions) -- substituted a pen-drive in the place of a red-coloured diary and expected Ajith to bear the entire burden of carrying Billa on his shoulders.

To expect the slightly pot-bellied Ajith to work a miracle which even Rajnikanth wasn't expected to do is probably asking for too much.

Action scenes directed by stunt man William Ong are the highlights. The car chase sequences are first of its kind in Tamil, with Ajith’s racing image adding to the grandeur. Sound effects are perfect and in sync with natural sound and the credit goes to Ayyappan. His efforts come to the fore especially in action sequences. Yuvan Shankar does it once again. ‘My name is Billa’, though shot differently, lacks the original’s magic. The ‘Vethalayai Pottendi’ number could also have been better.

Vishnu doesn’t waste too much time or dialogues on character building. He seems to have depended more on rapid cuts to make the screen play tighter and taut. The two biggest pillars of support for him come from costume department and cinematography section. Kudos to Vishnu’s wife, Anu Vardhan’s hard work and eye for details to get the colors and feel of the costumes perfect. Nirav Shah, the cinematographer’s work is of superlative nature and the result is an absolute visual delight. Seamless editing by Sreekar Prasad adds to the flow of the film.

On the whole, neatly packaged, Billa has lived up to its hype. If you are looking for an enjoyable fantasy ride, you wouldn’t be disappointed.

Ajith has tried his best under the circumstances -- in the absence of other props -- purely with the help of motorcar chases and fisticuffs.

The audience expects one last twist to the tale as the villain is shot down but it doesn't come.

Verdict: Masala entertainment redefined

Ajith has risen up the list to be Kollywood’s hottest hero after the stupendous opening of his style flick Billa. He is reported to have signed a new film for Sivaji Productions for a whopping Rs 6 crore!

Ajith will start work on his untitled new film sometime in January with choreographer turned director Raju Sundaram for Ayngaran International. It is said to be an action adventure film where he will play an investigative cop, and is likely to be shot in Ooty. A Mumbai based model is likely to be the heroine, with peppy numbers by Yuvan Shankar Raja (he has promised not to do any re-mixes!).

The Ayngaran film is likely to release for August 15, 2008 though no fixed release date has been set. After Ajith finishes this film he will start work on Sivaji Productions new film with either a new director or the old faithful K.S Ravi Kumar.