''Billa'' is a 2009 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Meher Ramesh Meher Ramesh is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works for Telugu films. Ramesh debuted as a director with the Kannada film ''Veera Kannadiga'' (2004) which was simultaneously made in Telugu as ''Andhrawala'' (2004), ...

. The film stars

Prabhas Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju (born 23 October 1979), known mononymously as Prabhas (), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema, Prabhas has featured in '' F ...

in a dual role alongside

Krishnam Raju Uppalapati Venkata Krishnam Raju (20 January 1940 – 11 September 2022) was an Indian actor and politician. He was known for his works in Telugu cinema and was widely known as "''Rebel Star''" for his rebellious acting style. He was also the ...

, Anushka Shetty, Hansika Motwani,

Namitha Namitha Vankawala is an Indian actress, model and politician who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu cinema along with a few films in Kannada and Malayalam. She serves as a state executive member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil N ...

, Rahman, and

Kelly Dorjee Kalden "Kelly" Sonam Dorji (born 4 January 1971) is a Bhutanese actor, model, and artist who works primarily in Indian movies. Early life Dorji's father is Lynpo Paljor Dorji, widely known as Dasho Benji, the permanent advisor to Bhutan's Nati ...

. A remake of the 2007 Tamil film ''

Billa Billa may refer to: Films *Billa (1980 film), ''Billa'' (1980 film), 1980 Indian Tamil film *Billa (2002 film), ''Billa'' (2002 film), 2002 Pakistani Punjabi film *Billa (2007 film), ''Billa'' (2007 film), 2007 Indian Tamil film, remake of ''Bil ...

'', which itself was a remake of the 1978 Hindi film ''

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'' by

Salim–Javed Salim–Javed were an Indian screenwriting duo, composed of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, working in Bollywood. They are noted for being the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status, becoming the most successful Indian screenwriters o ...

, it is the second remake of ''Don'' in Telugu after ''

Yugandhar ''Yugandhar'' is a 1979 Indian Telugu-language action film, produced by P. Vidya Sagar on Sri Gajalakshmi Arts banner and directed by K. S. R. Das. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Jayasudha, and music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. It is a remake ...

'' (1979). The film began its production in October 2008 and was released on 3 April 2009.

Plot

The story begins with an underworld don

hiding and operating out of Malaysia, hiding from

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

's international criminal list. Krishnamoorthy, an ACP working for Interpol, has spent the last few years looking for Billa, leaving behind a life in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. During a chase with the police, Billa is severely wounded after an accident and dies in front of the ACP. The ACP then secretly holds a funeral for Billa. Interpol Officer Dharmendra is assigned to work with the ACP to capture the elusive Billa as no one knows of Billa's death. The ACP keeps the death of Billa a secret even from his fellow officers, and tracks down a look-alike called Katikaranga (Ranga), a petty thief based in

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

. He asks Ranga to infiltrate Billa's gang by pretending to be Billa. In return, he will make sure that the children Ranga adopted, Lakshmi and Sreenu, get a proper education in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. The ACP trains Ranga and sends him back to Billa's gang as a person who has lost his memory. Slowly Ranga starts to learn about Billa's team and even speaks to Devil, Billa's boss, on the phone. He also gets attracted to one of the girl members of the gang, Maya (Anushka Shetty) who had been secretly plotting to kill Billa as he killed her brother Vikram and his fiancée Priya. Ranga then provides a pen drive with secret information about the crime network to the ACP, but he is about to be killed by Maya who thinks he is Billa. At this juncture, the ACP arrives and tells her that he is Ranga and not Billa. Since then, she begins to assist Ranga and the ACP in their mission and soon falls in love with Ranga. Later before a party, Ranga secretly provides information to the ACP about a meeting of Billa's network, and Lisa, Billa's girlfriend, overhears his conversation. She challenges Ranga, but in the fight, he accidentally kills her. A shootout occurs at the party, and the ACP is secretly killed by someone, leaving his gun behind. Ranga finds the ACP's body and the gun but is taken into the custody of the police team, now headed by Interpol Officer Dharmendra. He argues during interrogation that he is Ranga and not Billa to Dharmendra. Ranga mentions a piece of evidence – the pen drive, which may prove his innocence, but the pen drive is nowhere to be found. Unable to prove his innocence, he escapes from a police van. He phones Dharmendra and asks him to meet at the Aerobridge. Here it is revealed that Dharmendra is none other than the Underworld Crime Don Devil, and he is the one who killed ACP Krishnamoorthy. While escaping from Devil's gang, he meets Officer Adithya, who had the pen drive all along and strikes a deal with Ranga to get hold of Devil. Meanwhile, Maya has been kidnapped by Devil after she tried to defend Ranga from Devil. Maya is tied up in a car with her mouth taped shut. Ranga decides to pose as Billa to Devil and provides Russian explosives to an arms dealer Rashid, who insists on dealing with Billa. Enraged at being slighted by Rashid, following the completion of the deal, Devil and his henchman Ranjith fight with Ranga. Soon the police arrived and Devil, posing as Dharmendra, asks the police to arrest Ranga as Billa but gets shot by the squad of police and dies as the police have wired the entire conversation between Devil and Ranga, thus proving Ranga's innocence. It ends with Ranga returning to Visakhapatnam with Maya, and deciding to start a school and college there with the government reward given to him and four suitcases of cash he stole from Billa's estate in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Cast

in a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

and Ranga *

as ACP Krishnamurthy, an Indian man working for the Malaysian Police * Anushka Shetty as

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

, Ranga's love interest * Hansika Motwani as Priya *

as Lisa, Billa's love interest * Rahman as Interpol officer Dharmendra / Devil, the main antagonist * Adithya as Inspector Aditya *

as Rashid Bhai * Supreeth as Ranjit, Billa's right hand and secondary antagonist *

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

as Shankaram, Ranga's friend *

Prabhas Sreenu Prabhas Sreenu is an Indian actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and televisio ...

as waiter in Shankaram's restaurant * Subbaraju as Vikram, Priya's Fiancé * Phani as Ranga's friend *

Jayasudha Jayasudha Kapoor (born Sujatha Nidudavolu) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She has also worked in few Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Known as natural actress, she received fiv ...

as Janaki, Krishnamurthy's wife (

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

) * Praveen as Ranga's friend

Production

During the making of ''

Kantri ''Kantri'' is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by Meher Ramesh, a protégé of director Puri Jagannadh and who had earlier worked on Kannada films. Jr. NTR, Hansika Motwani, and Tanisha Mukherjee star in the lead ...

'' (2008), actor

N. T. Rama Rao Jr. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), also known as Jr. N.T.R. or Tarak, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest paid Telugu film actors, Rama Rao Jr. has won several accolades, including two Fil ...

expressed his intention of making ''Billa'' (2007) in Telugu following his grandfather

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

's ''

'' (1979).

, however, felt that Rama Rao Jr. would not fit into the role at that stage of his career. Ramesh also explored the idea of making the film with

Ravi Teja Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju (born 26 January 1968), known professionally as Ravi Teja, is an Indian film actor and producer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He is known for his roles in action comedy films. He is one of the highest- ...

but dropped due to budget constraints. Ramesh later approached

who was excited to work for the project. Prabhas' uncle

was also on board for a pivotal role, marking their first on-screen collaboration. Ramesh cast Anushka Shetty as the female lead. Shetty worked for over two months to slim down for the role. Hansika Motwani readily agreed to act in the film when suggested by Ramesh.

, like Shetty, lost weight before signing the film. The film was shot extensively in Malaysia for three months. Filming was completed in 104 working days.

Music

Music of Billa was launched at a packed auditorium in

Shilpakala Vedika Shilpakala Vedika is a terracotta auditorium and convention centre located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The auditorium is in area. "Shilpa" means sculpture, ''kala'' means art, and ''vedika'' means platform. Hence it is an art sculpture p ...

on the night of 18 March 2009 with

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1947 – 30 May 2017) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, in addition to Hindi cinema. He has directed more than 150 ...

S. S. Rajamouli Koduri Srisaila Sri Rajamouli ( ; born 10 October 1973) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He is the highest paid director in India, and is known for his action, fantasy, and epic genre films. T ...

, V. V. Vinayak, Gopichand and

Allu Arjun Allu Arjun (born 8 April 1982) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu films. One of the highest paid actors in India, Arjun is also known for his extraordinary dancing skills. He is a recipient of several awards, including six Filmfare Award ...

as guests.

launched the music.

Mani Sharma Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...

composed music for the film and

Lahari Music Lahari Recording Company is an Indian music company based in Bangalore. It owns a music label called "Lahari Music" also a film production company called "Lahari Films LLP". They later ventured into construction under the name of HomEquity Indi ...

bought audio rights. The song "My Name is Billa" was re-used by Sharma for the Tamil film ''

Sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

'' (2010) as "Naan Nadanthaal Adhiradi" and "Bommali " as "Thanjavoor Jillakkaari".

Release

The film was released on 3 April 2009.

References

External links

{{Salim–Javed 2000s crime action films 2000s Telugu-language films 2009 crime thriller films 2009 films Films about lookalikes Films about organised crime in India Films directed by Meher Ramesh Films produced by Krishnam Raju Films scored by Mani Sharma Films set in Malaysia Films shot in Kuala Lumpur Films shot in Malaysia Films with screenplays by Salim–Javed Indian crime action films Indian crime thriller films Indian gangster films Reboot films Telugu remakes of Hindi films