Director: Chakri Toleti
Rating: **
Billa’s bullets speak louder than his words and with these same bullets; he knocks down your expectations in cold blood. Released as the prequel to 2007 super hit Billa, Ajith’s Billa 2 is a film that fails to evoke interest of any kind. Having been made in almost 3 languages, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil, Billa series hasn’t changed one bit and the clichéd story still continues with bigger, even bigger stars.
When the idea was announced to make a prequel to Billa, t
here was buzz and curiosity all around and it doubled when the film’s trailer was released. Alas, today, all seems to have gone down the drain.
Billa 2 takes us through the life of David Billa, an ordinary man turned gangster who will do any dirty job for money. As a kid, Billa loses his parents in Sri Lankan war which brings him to Tamil Nadu as a refugee, where he meets his entourage Ranjith, Ram and Kadir. At the refugee camp Billa clashes horns with a corrupted cop Sinha, who is later bumped off in a brothel house.
Later, Billa joins hands with Annachi, a deceiving diamond merchant, with whom he spends few months until he meets Koti. In search of someone to pull off a dirty job, Koti hands over a briefcase of heroin that needs to be secretly sold. Not only Billa sells it successfully, he wins the heart of Abbasi, Koti’s boss, who in sheer happiness makes him one of his team members. What follows is easy to predict therefore I leave it to you to guess.
To begin with, Billa 2 has no story to tell or captivate its audience fro
m the first to last minute. Everything in the film gets predictable after a point of time, including what is going to happen to the baddies. The film starts off brilliantly – Billa held by collar with a gun to his head, giving one the feeling you’re in for some treat. But, as the film progresses everything turns dreadful.
Secondly, the film was inundated with flaws and nobody seems to have done anything about it. For example – In one scene, Billa endeavors to make the CM one of his puppets but he gets his warned. CM gets intervened in the middle of the road and killed by Billa’s men. The CM is escorted by only one police jeep! I mean what happened to the Z category security which VVIPS use? It’s the CM of the state but not some common man.
When a gangster has no time for himself, why does he need women at all? I mean I understand you cast these sensuous women in an effort to arouse the audience with item songs and few sleazy scenes but Billa 2 just doesn’t succeed in that department either. Bruna Abdullah and Parvathy Omanakuttan roles didn’t make any sense. Neither did they display any signs of good acting nor vigor. There’s no hard and fast rule that a former Miss India World or Channel V’s hottest ladies can turn the audience on.
Except Ajith, nobody else showed any maturity in acting. I suppose the di
rector did this on purpose – to cast weak, unknown actors such that all attention is shifted towards Ajith. Good move but then the audiences are left to rot every time these characters show up on screen. Rahman, the villain from Billa comes in one scene and the audience went gaga for him before he’s never to be seen again. The director doesn’t even attempt to link the prequel to the sequel at any instance in the film.
Although Billa 2 was stylishly made and backed by some powerful dialogues yet the film still falls short of being called one of Ajith’s best films. Chakri’s direction lacked purpose and it was evident throughout. All he wanted to show was the rags-to-riches story of a common man turned gangster named Billa, David Billa (courtesy – Bond, James Bond). I would revisit ‘Mankatha’ once again instead of watching this film.
Some good aspects of the film include – the opening titles which narrate a story pictorially, taking us through the childhood of Billa, and how he moved to Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka. Second good aspect of the film is the song ‘Gangster’ which in about 3 minutes catapults Billa to super gangster stardom. The song is intelligently made in ‘Sin City’ style, in black and white and color wherever required. I found this idea really appealing and original in its own kind. Everything is narrated through some kind of cartoon and graphical form and the credit goes to the cinematographer R.D Rajasekhar. The stunt team choreographed some of the best plausible stunts, and especially the climax fight in the chopper is one the finest. Yuvan’s music is good and saves the film in a way from turning in to a nightmare.
In essence; Billa 2 is all style but no material.
