Film: Billa
Rating: 3/5
Cast: Prabhas, Namita, Anushka, Hansika, Subba Raju, Supreet, Kelly Dorge, Aravind, Rahaman, Ali etc
Camera: Soundara Rajan
Music: Mani Sharma
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Fights: Stun Shiva
Art: AS Prakash
Producers: Narendra, Prabodh
Screenplay-Dialogue-Direction: Meher Ramesh
Released On: 3rd April 2009
The much awaited big banner film ‘Billa’ has released today. Many assumed that it would be an oasis in the desert of flops. Let us hope how far the assumptions turned true.
Story:
Billa ( Prabhas) a gangster in Malaysia becomes the most wanted for Interpol, Indian and Malaysian police. They collectively search for him but he keeps on escaping. Lisa (Namitha) is the girl friend of Billa and Maya (Anushka) is another dame who joins Billa’s team to put an end for him with a secret vengeance.
Finally ACP Krishna Murthy (Krishnam Raju) takes up Billa’s case and chases him. Finally he catches him and kills. But later with the help of an informer (Ali) Krishna Murthy learns that there is a look alike of Billa in Vizag. He conspires to use that look alike in the place of Billa and smoke out all gangsters connected to Billa.
The look alike of Billa is none other than Ranga (Prabhas) who is a pickpocketer and petty thief. The story takes the turn when Krishan Murthy meets Ranga and gives him the offer to act as Billa.
Finally how far Krishna Murthy gets success in his operation? That has to be watched on screen.
Performances:
Prabhas is at his best in look, body language and performance. He followed a humorous style in delivering dialogues for Ranga’s character. That has pumped in some refreshing air in the heads of audiences. And as Billa he is the best suit. His physique is perfectly impressive and inspiring.
Anushka is serious and hot. Her much publicized bikini act got desired response in theaters. Namitha also did enough of skin show but that looked odd. Hansika is there for a while for a song and even she too was used for glamour dose.
Supreet acted as side kick to Prabhas. Subba Raju is smart enough to pair up with Hansika. Aravind (Arundhathi fame) appeared as side kick for Kelly Dorge and slowly he promises to be good choice for bad guy on screen. Rahaman is ok as Interpol officer.
Krishnam Raju tried his level best but there is problem in his bearing. He appeared to have tried very hard to move like a police officer. But there is nothing to pint out about his performance. His seniority has reflected.
Coming to technical details, Art, Cinematography and Costumes played key roles in this film. They deserve very good mention. The biggest minus point in the film is lack of punch in dialogues. Direction is average. Production values are very good.
Analysis:
The film is lacking desired punch. It hasn’t met the standards especially in the matter of dialogues when compared to Hindi and Tamil versions. Hindi film ‘Don’ is identified with the most famous dialogue ‘Don Ko pakadnaa mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai’. There is no such punch in any dialogue in Telugu. It is only Prabhas’s Ranga character that brought enthusiasm for audiences. Although the Billa character was designed in very impressive way with respect to look and feel, the soul is missing on a whole. Heroines are for good visual feast for young audiences with bikinis and short dresses. But people started laughing looking at the costumes of Namitha. She turned a laughing stock by wearing such dresses with odd look, being obese. It is time for her to cut down weight. Otherwise, she becomes a comedian than a ‘hot’ actress.
First 30 minutes of the film brings boredom as more importance is given for style and sound than the story part and narration. The part should have filled with good dialogues to avoid boredom. And the film gets some tempo when Ranga character enters the screen. Although that appeared promising for a while, the graph has fallen down in second half. The climax is also not that enthusiastic. It’s a movie made with rich production values and stylish presentation.
The film has no big muscle to hold box office tight for weeks together. But the season may help the movie. As there are no films those are ruling box office and as there are no big films in line to rub shoulders, Billa may fall on the safe zone.
