Billa

Bollywood (Hindi pop film) and Tollywood (Tamil pop film)have been robbing each other even before somebody coined those ridiculous terms for Indian regional movies, and "Billa" is no exception. Back in the day, Hindi film god Amitabh Bachchan made a gangster film called "Don," penned by the classic writing duo Salim-Javed, about a ruthless gangster who is secretly replaced by a rather sweet and naive look-a-like when a cop captures him. The film was a big hit, and soon after Tamil film god Rajnikath came out with "Billa," a knock-off that tailored the story more to regional sensibilities, and it was a big hit for him as well. Both films became classics of their respective industries, just as both stars became absolute icons, so it was generally beyond imagination that anyone would dare to remake these films. In 2006, however, the unthinkable happened when writer/director Farhan Akhtar, son of Javed, re-imagined his dad's story and installed current Hindi superstar Shah Rukh Khan as the new "Don," creating some fierce debate and another hit. So it is no surprise that current Tamil superstar Ajith remade "Billa," which is "Don," which is...well, you get the idea.This new "Billa" owes more to the new "Don" than the old "Billa," but like its predecessor, it pays strict attention to the regional differences and is more Hindu-centric than the rather secular "Don." Like the Tamil film industry itself, the movie is less polished and rougher around the edges than the Bollywood version, and Billa is more of a brutish "gunda" (gang leader) than the fatally sophisticated Don. Since I don't understand Tamil and have to rely on the English subtitles, I can't speak to the quality of the dialogue, but certainly the character of Billa lacks the sly and comic affectations of Don's 3rd person catchphrases and ultra politeness which gave him his deadly charm. After literally blowing away some treacherous drug buyers, Don sighs and says, "nobody says 'please' anymore," while Billa just grunts with satisfaction--where's the fun in that?Without the outrageous sense of humor that drives "Don," "Billa" is more like a typical gangster film, and certainly less noteworthy. In comparison, "Billa" is also hurt by the lack of exotic locations ("Don" was filmed primarily in Kuala Lumpur, with its famous twin skyscrapers almost a character in the film). In its favor, however, the film seems to have had a bigger budget than is typical, and the money was well spent, especially in the musical numbers, while Ajith is very well suited to the rough and tumble Billa. The characters in "Billa" are fairly broad, with repulsive villains and snarling henchmen, but there's also lots of action, with car chases and fights, and a few thrills along the way.Whether you will like "Billa" really depends on how much you enjoy both the Tamil film style and the screen persona of Ajith. If you are a confirmed Bollywood fan who dotes on SRK and just wants to see the knock-off for comparison, you're probably not going to like this film. If you like or at least understand the Tamil film style, and you like or are used to Ajith's presentation (he's not a subtle actor, even by Indian standards), then you will probably enjoy this film. If you are totally unfamiliar with either Hindi or Tamil film and this somehow just caught your eye, it's hard to say what your reaction will be; the best help I can give is to say "think Charles Bronson in India, only with song and dance included." Unfortunately, this film is not available for rental on-line, so you will have to buy it to find out.If you are thinking about purchasing the film, I recommend spending a few extra dollars to get the blu-ray version, because of the better image quality; Tamil films don't have the big budgets to produce stunning cinematography, digital mastering, or computer graphics like Hollywood films, so the blu-ray is not going to be the "wow" factor of something like "The Hobbit," obviously, but with lesser quality photography, the image upgrade delivered by blu-ray actually becomes more important.