Billa Live Movie (Cast: Ajith, Nayantara, Namitha, Prabhu, Rahman, Pandu, Santhanam)

Comparisons with the original Billa are inevitable. The 2007 version of Billa, which was made in 1980 with Rajinikanth in the lead role(s), is a faithful adaptation in terms of storyline is concerned. It looks awesome in terms of production values and cinematography. The performances and stylish looks make the movie a winner on its own merit. Remake is always a risky affair. No one tries to remake a failure attempt and hence the success of the original naturally becomes the burden on the remake. Vishnu and Ajith have guts to take such a risk. They have worked hard to recreate the magic of original Billa (remake of Amithabh Bachchan starrer Don) with a different treatment. The storyline is well known. It’s about a hunt of a dreaded international criminal Billa (Ajith) by police. The police officer Jai (Prabhu) somehow manages to corner Billa but he kills him in the process. In a bid to unearth the whole truth of the gang he sends a mole - Billa look alike- and tries to capture the entire group through this mole. Velu, a petty thief, successfully infiltrates into the group and helps the officer to round them up. But the unexpected death of Jai jeopardizes their efforts and puts the innocent Velu in danger. On the side track, you have Sasha (stunningly beautiful and sexy Nayantara), who wants to kill Billa to avenge her brother’s death. Then you have Jagdhish, the super boss of the gang (Raguman), and CJ (glam girl Namitha), the girl friend of Billa, to add shades to the crime thriller. How Velu gets rid of his predicament and how the police eliminate the gang form the rest of the story. As mentioned earlier, comparisons with the original are but natural. The movie does impress in its stunningly impressive making with awesome cinematography and sleek editing. It outsmarts the original in these areas. No doubt about it. The car chasing is marvelously executed. Even the stunt scenes are far better than the original, thanks to Malaysian stunt master William Wong. Nayantara’s amazing looks are definitely one of the attractive elements of the movie. Ajith hasn’t tried to recreate the magical charm of Rajini. Instead, he has played to his strengths. He, like Vishnu, has given his own version of Billa without disturbing the soul of the original. He looks handsome and brings in some intensity to the character. He does the whole thing in a different style that is appealing to a great extent. His action in stunt scenes stands out. He has shown his histrionic skills in the sequence that leads to the fast beat song ‘Vethalaiya Potendi’. Vishnu’s presentation is stylish and sleek. But the crime thriller lacks credibility in some areas. The proceedings that follow the death of Billa and Velu being chased by both police and the gang have not been conceived well. The way the director deliberately triggers the suspicion in the minds of the audiences on Anil (Aditya) doesn’t appeal. Nayantara’s introduction is quite fascinating. But the hype created about her doesn’t sustain for long. The character hasn’t been developed well. Namitha’s role is too limited to be remembered. Her effort to sizzle in a song is not appealing. Vishnu’s portrayal of Billa is single dimensional. The original Billa had a sense of humor and an easy way of doing tough things. Much had been told about Nayantara’s sexy appearance and she justifies the hype. She flaunts her well toned body without any discomfort. No heroine in Tamil has sizzled so naturally as Nayantara does in this film. Her handling of glamour could well redefine the meaning of sex appeal in Tamil cinema. She dances well in ‘Vethalaiya pottendi’ number but fails to do so in ‘My name is Billa’. Prabhu as DSP from Tamil Nadu handles his role with ease. Raguman is credible while Aditya’s serious looks add flavor to the proceedings. Yuvan Shankar Raja has done well in background score. The songs sound good but they cannot be termed as outstanding. The item song is alluring. Yuvan’s rendition of M.S. Viswanathan’s tunes for ‘Billa’ and ‘Vethalaiya Pottendi’ are quite average. Nirav Shah’s cinematography is one of the high points of the film. He has captured the beauty of Malaysia besides capturing the action amazingly well. His camera adds meaning and depth to the proceedings. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is sleek and effective. Anu Vardhan, Vishnuardhan’s wife has done wonders in costume designing, particularly to Nayantara and Namitha. As a whole, Vishnu and co has presented a faithful adaptation with a stylish and spectacular presentation.

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Oram po Live Movie (Cast: Arya, Pooja, Lal, Jagan, Ashwini, Nellai Siva, John Vijay)

Bigilu's intended bride Rani and Chandru are in love. This naturally causes a split in the Bigilu-Chandru friendship. Son of Gun hatches a new plot, gets hold of Bigilu's workshop and Chandru's auto and what happens ultimately forms the climax of the story.

There's a healthy trend in Tamil films where too much emphasis is not laid on sentiment factor in the story. Pushkar-Gayatri's 'Oram Po' belongs to this genre.

Playing auto driver Chandru, Arya's role is quite casual. How he 'covers' biriyani seller Rani…and when she tells him she's pregnant, how he coolly tells her that these things don't work for him…are things that are contrary to a Tamil cinema's hero's reactions. If there had been of the Chennai touch in his lingo and clothes, the Chandru character would have been more effective.

Lall plays the role of Bigilu. Having seen him always as a villain, it was a pleasure to see him in a friendly role. Where women are concerned, he has certain principles like "just eating biriyani and going about one's business." But how he gets mad when his friend plays up with his fiancée, but does visit the jail to bring him out, adds dimension to his character.

Once the 'deed' is done, her lover ditches her but the biriyani seller throws him out of her life with a few drops of tears and a few curses. Pooja is wonderful in her role as the biriyani seller.

But the most striking of all is the lovable opponent – not villain - Son of Gun. His drawling Thoothudi lingo and some of his dialogues like "Let's not commit the sin of parting the dogs," are hands down winners.

This sprightly film on autos does away with the usual main ingredients of a Tamil film like chastity, heroism and villain. Dialogues are a strong point of the film. Words like naai, underwear and mayiru flow through the film but these are mainly to bring out the character of the persons and thanks to the Censor Board for not using its scissors!

Pushkar-Gayatri have also broken the sanctity of love. In the duet songs, the hero teaches the heroine cuss words and about pleasures of the flesh.

To bring the barking of street dogs to a crescendo when Bigilu and Chandru have a spat, when a Simbu look alike comes for the auto race, to use appropriate dialogue delivery and background music like in a Clint Eastwood cowboy film, using the police band set music when there's a police parade on…composer GV Prakash Kumar has used appropriate sounds for the background score. This handling is very easy on the comic aspect of the film. Even though it's difficult to make out the words in the Tasmac song, it is nonetheless rather catchy. The Aandi bit and Ganapathi song in Nandavanam are cool!

One has to mention the careful editing by Antony that does not spoil the mood and Kalyani's dance. From the very first scene, cameraman Nirav Shah's cinematography is impressive as it moves from room to room. But there are also some scenes that makes one wonder if the camera is indeed wielded by him.

The local Tasmac shop, workshop and subtenant quarters are all brought to life by art director Milan.

For this auto ride, one can pay above meter charges to the directors Pushkar and Gayatri!

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