Billa 2 review: emotional connect loses out

14 July, 2012

Why did David Billa transform from a common man to a dreaded gangster Billa 2, the prequel of the 'oh so successful' Billa, opens up across theatres with a storyline to answer the question. Would it manage to live up to the expectations Read on.

FIRST THINGS first – this is a prequel, hence be ready to be surprised by a well shaved, clean, smart looking Ajith rather the bearded, rugged look he sported in the last episode. The director has changed too – Vishnuvardhan makes way for Chakri Toleti of 'Unnaipol Oruvan' and 'Eenadu' fame. Hence even though the expectations were humongous, treatment of the subject had to be different.

The film opens up with David Billa claiming how he has sculpted every moment of his life – and audience claps and shouts. Not many times a regional movie opens up in the multiplexes of National Capital Region. Yet the audience in the movie halls of Delhi knew how to cheer up to their favourite stars anecdotes.

The soul of the movie remains the same ‘dhishoom-dhishoom’ and action movie lovers won’t be disappointed. The movie also touches the subject of civil war in Sri Lanka narrowly when the hero loses his parents and becomes a refugee. From there getting into unwanted trouble, finding a godfather, being sincere to him and gradually entering into the crime world – the storyline will remind you of Sanjay Dutt starrer Vastav. Despite the fact that Chakri Toleti had put in all the spices available in true Ajith style backed by wonderful dialogues, stylish looks and background score bullets, the movie lags due to the much predictable scripts. Most of the time you will end up enjoying Ajith’s antics rather the movie itself and that is exactly where Billa 2 falls short of the original Billa.

Also with the two heroines Parvathi Omanakuttan and Bruna Abdullah getting into the picture you end up not getting enough of either beauty in a script that is already dominated by the male protagonist. The emotional connect between the main character hence stays limited to the celluloid and does not translate to the audience.

Billa 2 is not a bad movie. In fact the action sequence, Ajith’s performance, VFX, music – there are many points to be applauded. However somewhere it doesn’t touch your heart the way Billa did. Action had always been Ajith’s forte and his fans will enjoy the movie anyway. Hence success of box office will be celebrated very soon. Despite that Billa 2 won’t make a national sensation as expected.