Billa II

Billa II is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action film directed and co-written by Chakri Toleti. A prequel to Billa (2007), it focuses on how David Billa, an ordinary man from the coastal region of Sri Lanka, becomes a dreaded underworld don. The film stars Ajith Kumar reprising the role of the titular character, leading an ensemble cast including Vidyut Jammwal, Parvathy Omanakuttan, Bruna Abdullah, Sudhanshu Pandey, Manoj K. Jayan, Yog Japee, Rohit Khurana, Dinesh Lamba, Krishna Kumar, Sricharan, Janaki Sabesh, Madhusudhan Rao and Rahman. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while R. D. Rajasekhar handled the cinematography and Suresh Urs worked as the editor. The film, produced by Wide Angle Creations in association with the Hinduja Group company IN Entertainment, was officially announced in November 2010, with Vishnuvardhan as the director. Due to schedule clashes, Vishnuvardhan was replaced by Chakri Toleti, with a new script having been penned by a team involving Toleti, Sarath Mandava and Eric Felberg. Principal photography happened between July 2011 and December 2011. The filming primarily took place at Tamil Nadu, Goa, Hyderabad and in Georgia. Followed by multiple delays and an extensive marketing campaign, Billa II was released worldwide on 13 July 2012. The film received mixed reviews from critics praising Ajith's performance and technical aspects while criticism was directed towards the script and screenplay.