Interestingly, Ajith's Billa also has a Rajni connection; it is the remake of Rajni's 1981 blockbuster Billa, which was the yet another remake of Amitabh Bachan's Don.
And it was Billa which made Rajni what he is today.
The first Billa was made by the veteran Tamil film producer K Balaji, and it was his son, Suresh Balaji's dream to remake it and start his innings as an independent producer. However, it was not to be as Suresh Balaji decided to see how the new Don fared. Meanwhile, he made Kireedam with Ajith.
In an earlier interview to rediff.com, Suresh Balaji said, "When producer L Suresh showed interest in remaking it (Billa) with Ajith, he (Ajith) requested us to give him the rights. Though Billa was one of our best products as far as commercial success was concerned, we decided to sell the rights because of Ajith. He didn't want the role to go to anybody else."
Young director Vishnuvardhan, fresh after the success of Pattiyal became the director of the new Billa. He and Ajith took Rajni's blessings at a function and set the ball rolling for the new Billa.
Ajith plays the roles of Billa and Raja. Nayanthara is Roma while Namitha is Billa's girlfriend. Prabhu is the DCP and Rahman the drug lord.
Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is a huge hit especially the remix My name is Billa and Seval kodi by Vijay Yesudas.
The trailer of Billa has already created a frenzy among Ajith fans with its slick look. Nirav Shah, the cinematographer of Dhoom and Dhoom 2 cranks the camera for Billa.
Billa is ready to hit theatres on December 14, two days after the original Billa's, oops Rajni's birthday!