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Cast: Prabhas, Krishnam Raju, Anushka, Hansika, Namitha, Jayasudha, Supreet, Kelly Dorge, Raghu, Rehman, Ali, Subbaraju and Others.
Art: A S Prakash.
Cinematography: Soundarrajan.
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh.
Action: Stun Shiva.
Music: Mani Sharma.
Producers: Narendra & Prabodh.
Screenplay & Direction: Meher Ramesh.
Presenter: Dr. Krishnam Raju.
Banner: Gopikrishna Movies Pvt. Ltd.
Release Date: 03-April-2009

BillaLooks like Meher Ramesh could not muster courage to tell Krishnam Raju that he doesn't suit the role, so eventually it is the audience who had to go through the pain of seeing an ageing actor have thrilling moments sharing screen place with his nephew. Imagine Krishnam Raju in rolled up half sleeves, a thick mop of hair et al coaching Prabhas to punch and teaching tricks of the trade. There is more like watching him wrapped up in squeaky white towel in a sauna and then slipping away in a hood. No soul in his voice or no mobility in his role. Well those are only the slightly painful or funny moments otherwise Billa is a treat to watch. Even Namita whom Prabhas calls her once “bandadhi” gives a refreshing feel to the audiences who have been forced to see Mumait and other vamps repeatedly.

PrabhasThere is another indulgence, the director keeps repeating the same shots of Prabhas adjusting his blazer every now and then from the start to finish. No complaints he still looked good but what a relief watching a tall hero. Director Meher Ramesh gives new dimensions to the film, makes it look fresh and frothy while retaining the basic essence of the original and executes the screenplay with finesse. The title role of Billa suits Prabhas to the hilt and the long legged hero adds his personal style to the character and treats his fans with a dual role both as Billa, the don and Ranga, the simpleton.


Billa (Prabhas) is the most wanted criminal who works as a lieutenant to a dread mafia group that deals with weapons, drugs and ACP Krishnamurthy (Krishnam Raju) who is on deputation to nab him moves to the mafia's operational base in Malaysia. Billa is killed and the ACP who is trying to crack the drug trade chalks out a plan to infiltrate the mafia by placing Ranga from Vishakapatanam amongst them.

The ACP is shot as the film progresses and the onus is on Ranga to convince the cops of his identity. He wants to steer clear and sets out to furnish evidence to clear his name. Aiding him is Anushka whose brother Subbaraju and girlfriend Hansika have been killed and Namita the moll who is confused with Billa's look alike. Technically the film is proficient, the sets, the costumes, copters, aircrafts and locations add visual credibility and the music though purely functional has only one number “ My name is Billa” to boast about.

Prabhas & NamithaJayasudha appears for a brief while as Krishnam Raju's wife. Prabhas initially is shown as a trickster who raises two orphans and leaves them with Krishnam Raju before impersonating him as Billa. Ali is Prabhas's friend. There is hardly any comedy in the movie but in a subject like this Ramesh intersperses the story with subtle humour, Prabhas is a one man army, one man show and doubles up as a comedian too. Namita is tad obese for a moll's role but makes her presence felt. Anushka has clearly worked hard on her figure and does her part as the vengeful lady.

Krishnamraju does an okay good job but looks more like a retired ACP, his presence in the film is obviously to work with nephew Prabhas but anyone with more mobility and zeal could have suited the role far better. Finally it's a stylish well made film, racy and entertaining. Prabhas looks glamorous, refreshing, does justice to both the characters and ensures the audience are glued to their seats.

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.