Billa

Language : Tamil
Banner : Ananda Pictures Circuit, Ayangaran International
Director : Vishnuvardhan
Producer : L. Suresh Balaji
Cinematography : Nirav Shah
Story : Javed Akhtar, Salim Khan
Screenplay : Vishnuvardhan
Dialogue : Vishnuvardhan
Music : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Distribution : Pyramid Symira Release
Release : 2007 December 14
Cast : Ajith, Nayantara, Namitha, Prabhu, Rahman, Rose Dawn

'Billa,' Vishnu Vardhan's new film lives up to its hype and Ajith simply rocks. This remake of Rajinikanth's 'Billa' of the 80's has all the trappings of a James Bond thriller.

The story is set in Malaysia where Billa, an international criminal and much wanted by the police of several countries, resides. Billa works for Jagdish, the kingpin of this nefarious empire and whose identity remains a secret. CJ (Namitha) is his ladylove. Nayanthara as Sasha, a gutsy young woman wins the confidence of Billa. Little does he know that she has a motive to kill him.

Pursuing Billa is Inspector Jaiprakash (Prabhu), but Billa always manages to give him the slip. When Jai finally catches him, Billa dies in the car. Jaiprakash covers his death and issues a statement to the press that Billa had escaped.

He brings in Velu (Ajith in a double role), a small time thief, but a good soul, to impersonate Billa with the idea of nabbing Jagdish. Velu as a police informer almost leads Jaiprakash to Jagdish, but before that Jaiprakash is killed. The police catch Velu.How will Velu prove that he is not the real Billa but a police mole? And who is the real Jagdish? Watch Billa as the story unfolds to reveal more.

Packaged as a James Bond movie, with guns, glamorous girls and gizmo, Billa entertains. Racy and engaging, you don't get bored. Shot in exotic locations in Malaysia and presented stylishly, Vishnu Vardhan who gave us 'Arinthum Ariyamalum' and 'Pattiyal', deserves kudos for this new look given to Tamil commercial cinema. Even the title design is cool.

Nayanthara looks great in mini skirts, jacket, dark glasses and tall boots. Equally good is Namitha as the loyal and devoted lover of Billa. Both the women play their roles well with their restrained acting. Prabhu as Jaiprakash is impressive. But this film belongs to Ajith, who just rocks. The Armani designer suits in black and the Rayban glasses suit Billa's character, which he carries off with elan and the right attitude.

A new face Rose Dawn from Mumbai who does an item number. Commendable is the costumes of the cast designed by Anu Vardhan, Vishnu's wife. While black seems to dominate in the film especially in the costumes of Ajith and Nayantara, the use of white costumes for a song sequence stands out. With its crisp dialogues minus melodrama and with a lot of visual effects thrown in Billa is for the new generation.

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