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The hero, though spoken of as highly astute, easily succumbs to the seductive charm of Riya (Rose). That he escapes the dragnet is fine, but being gullible doesn’t suit the ‘smart-Alec’ tag that goes with Billa. Again, just pointing a gun at the police helps Sasha (Nayantara) get into Billa’s gang. And if you thought there’s a story behind it, there is. But it has nothing to do with her rendezvous with the men in uniform. Ranjit (Yog Japi), Billa’s confidant, isn’t bright either.

Billa (Ajith) is an internationally notorious criminal hounded by the police, prominent among them being officer Jaiprakash (Prabhu). Jai gets him but the altercation costs Billa his life. Now emerges the look-alike Velu (Ajith again). Jaiprakash uses him to round up Billa’s gang, but when Jai himself gets killed, Velu realises he has caught the tiger by its tail…

In costume, demeanour and expression, Ajith as the don, fills the bill. Acting wise he has little to do. But in stunts, he stuns. The risks he has taken are incredible. In ‘Billa,’ expressions hardly exist — probably when you tow the action line Hollywood style, you have to look serious and stone-faced all the time. Most of the characters do just that.

Prabhu gives much fillip to the role. Namita is tame — the oomph hardly makes a difference. But the uninhibited, dare-to-bare look Nayantara sports should leave many speechless. Using white and black predominantly, Anu comes out with classy outfits for the main characters, completely in sync with Nirav and Milan. Probably she could have played down the cleavage angle a little for Nayan — not one outfit attempts it. Graciously she doesn’t try it out on Namita!

The best thing about Vishnuvardhan’s screenplay is that he has done away with certain redundant aspects of the original. And admirably, dialogue (Raj Kannan) is minimal and sentiment is kept in abeyance. (Ajith’s first word, “checkmate,” occurs 15 minutes after his appearance!) You neither have time-consuming duets nor dry comedy tracks. However, the placement of songs is jarring.

Yuvan’s re-recording is brilliant — the relevant music of the ‘Sei’ number in the background when Billa kills the singer is an example. The other songs are a dampener, the re-mixed ‘My name …’ in particular. Caressing the camera with an expert touch is Nirav Shah — he ought to be commended for his lighting and tones that spell aesthetics all the way. Milan’s art is not far behind. Extraordinary sound mixing (U.K.I. Iyyappan) and DTS (Prime Focus) warrant special mention.

Pace plays spoilsport in ‘Billa.’ Though it lives up to the pre-release hype about its chic factor and has a handsome hero to boot, this remake extravaganza isn’t at its appealing best mainly because it is faithful to the Tamil original to a fault. Yet you have to give it to Vishnu — flamboyance spells class in Ajith’s ‘Billa.’

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