Review : David Billa

Release date: 13 July 2012

Rating : 2.75/5

Director : Chakri Toleti

Producer : Shobha Rani

Music Director : Yuvan Shankar Raja

Starring: Ajith Kumar, Parvathy Omanakuttan, Prabhu

Tamil star Ajith’s ‘David Billa’ released worldwide today amidst huge expectations. The movie saw a Tamil release as ‘Billa 2′ and Chakri Tholeti is the director of the film. The film is a prequel to Ajith’s successful ‘Billa’ and it has been jointly produced by IN Entertainment and Wide Angle Creations. Music has been scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Let us see how the movie is.

Story :

If you have seen Al Pacino’s ‘Scarface’, the story of ‘Billa 2′ will be very familiar. The movie seems almost like a freemake of the Hollywood classic. David Billa (Ajith Kumar) is a Sri Lankan refugee who comes to India to seek refuge. At the local refugee camp, he revolts against the authorities who treat the refugees brutally. He gains followers and allies because of this and slowly makes his way up the crime ladder, seizing every opportunity that comes his way.

Fate brings him in contact with Abbasi (Sudhanshu Pandey) and thus begins his meteoric rise, as Abbasi gives Billa every opportunity to utilize his courage and intelligence. In between all this, the usual gang of corrupt cops, lawyers and government officials come in and go.

Things get murky when East European arms dealer Dimitri comes into the picture. As expected, Abbasi and Billa fallout and from then on, it is a fight between the parties for domination. A brief pseudo romantic track between Billa and Sameera(Bruna Abdullah) comes in flashes while Parvati Omanakuttan is seen as Billa’s niece Jasmine.

Plus Points :

Ajith looks deadly as usual and his eyes sear you with their intensity. He looks good in both the lungi as well as the tuxedo and not many people can manage to do that. His mannerisms and body language are perfect for the role of David Billa. He has also performed very well in the fight sequences.

Subhanshu Pandey is regal in the role of Abbasi. He is suave and sophisticated and his performance is impressive. Vidyut Jamal is decent in the role of Dimitri but one wonders how the director expected public to accept an Indian face for an East European character.

Ilavarasu is good in his brief role. Ajith’s sequences have been conceived stylishly. There is a sequence in the second half that resembles the opening title songs of James Bond films and it is nice. There are lots of grand visuals and interesting locations throughout the movie. All the songs in the movie are just item numbers and they will offer some visual relief.

Minus Points :

Etching of characters is terribly poor and care should have been taken here. Logic goes for a toss big time in many sequences and it makes viewers squirm in their seat. Chakri Tholeti expects you to get thrilled by a scene where Ajith blows the daylights out of a heavily armed police force, using nothing more than a pump action shotgun.

Screenplay is bad and lacks conviction. Pace keeps dipping at many places in the film. There is no emotional depth to the proceedings and one fails to sympathize with the character of David Billa. Rahman makes an extremely brief and pointless appearance.

Parvati Omanakuttan and Bruna Abdullah have very poor roles and they don’t even look too hot. The romantic track is atrocious. Some of the most important scenes in the film fall flat and do not lend the story any support.

No effort has been made to bring Telugu nativity into the film. Signboards and names of cities could have been easily changed into familiar Telugu names to give the film a local flavour, but no effort has been made in that direction.

Technical Aspects :

Chakri Tholeti fails as a director. Even with such a brilliant scrip like ‘Scarface’, he does not evoke any fiery passion among viewers. Bad Screenplay and substandard narration only add to the woes. Cinematography is outstanding and the visuals are just magnificent. With grand locations and expensive surroundings, the sense of luxury is never missed once Billa becomes a Don. Editing is poor and could have been crisper. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is passable but his background score is good.

Telugu dialogues have been written poorly and dubbing work is shoddy. Fight sequences and stunts have been conceived very well. Production values are rich.

Verdict :

Billa 2 is one of those movies which have a lot of style but absolutely no substance. Ajith’s fans will love his super cool looks and his fights. But for the common movie lover, the substandard characterization and poor screenplay act as major minus points. If you want to catch a very stylish Ajith and some superb visuals, you may try to sit through this flick this weekend. If entertainment and fun are on your agenda, stay away.