Saturday, July 14, 2012

Review: Billa II (2012)


If you ask someone to watch Micheal Corleone's history, it definitely is an offer you can't refuse but would you be interested to watch David Billa's history? Read on to find your answer...

For an unconventional tamil movie of 2 hour runtime, Billa II's first half is slow and its second part even slower. There is not one cheerful moment in this installment.

By the time the explosions and fight sequences come and enlighten you, you are half dead or probably dozing off.

Supposedly the plot takes place in the 1980s and of course Chakri Toleti, the director has made sure that the sets match the timeline but again no one is perfect. There seem to exist modern houseboats and modern parties with ladies wearing clothes of the future. For me, it was a serious let down. And to support it, stupid mixes of languages, both Russian and Hindi. When someone can converse in English, then why the need of Russian and to top it, a Russian-tamilian transalator.

For a movie which had a lot of potential, Chakri Toleti's Billa II fails to entertain. In fact, there is not much style too. I was ready enough to let go of the substance but Ajith's trademark style was missing. Too many unwanted slow-mos spoilt the already slow paced screenplay.

If you thought the trailers were amazing, well they were but they were only leading to something passable. Yes, Billa II is something you can miss.

Parvathy Omanakuttan's inclusion is a total turn-off. Not only can she do a proper lip sync she also can't move her lips when her dubbing artist is saying something. The "hot" ladies in the song "Edho..Mayakkam" were better in all terms than the 2 so-called lead ladies. Bruna Abdullah did
nothing except gaze at Ajith and hug him a thousand times.

Vidyut Jamwal, already famous in Tollywood and Bollywood, plays a Russian goonda for whom "business" is dealing arms. He has a hot assisstant though.

Sudhanshu Pandey's pathetic tamil accent is a serious turn-off. Though, he seems to be turned on by Ajith's belly "bouncing" in Edho oru Mayakkam's "Bounce..Bounce..Bounce with me" chorus. (This song was one of the best moments in the movie)

Yuvan's music is below average. Every time there is a romantic tune, it starts off with a piece which reminds me of "Cadbury" Ad. Background music was okayish. Not striking the right chord.

Billa 2 could have been more shorter (and better) if the songs were removed and the video frames per second (fps) increased.

The only positive about the movie is R.D. Rajashekar's cinematography. Amazing visuals in Edho oru mayakkam and the climax stunt sequence. *Take a Bow* RD.

The awesome punchline that we see in the trailer "En vazhkai la ovvoru naalum...." fails to gather any cheers as the viewer is confused as to why this dialogue is actually rendered by Ajith.

You can actually see a knife kept comfortably in a fake blood sack in the first scene of the movie. Easy for Ajith to take it out (like Sinbad) and just go on a killing spree. Such letdowns....hmph..

All in all, Chakri Toleti's Billa 2 fails to deliver. It does step up in the way blood sprays out in fight sequences. But there is no style and no substance. What else can a movie entertain us with?

Rating: 2/5
P.S. I'm being lenient here.

Billa II: Yawn!