Development

The entire production stage of the movie spanned about six months. Prior to Billa, Vishnuvardhan had directed three films, Kurumbu, Arinthum Ariyamalum and Pattiyal, two of which were successful. Billa was started after a debacle surrounding his other venture, Sarvam, which was eventually postponed to make way for Billa.

In an interview, Vishnuvardhan said that he had "twice missed out on the chance to direct [Kumar]. The third time when I got a chance to direct him, I made sure that I would not miss it. I was all ready to write a good script for him, but he said, he wanted me to remake Billa", confirming it was Ajith's idea.^[7]

The film was originally announced, provisionally after the release of the Bollywood film, Don – which was a remake of the 1978 film of the same name. Also from the 1978 version, a remake was made in 1980 in Tamil, called Billa. 2007's Billa drew inspirations from these three versions. Suresh Balaji, who had acted in the earliest version of Billa, acquired the rights to produce the film. It became the second Tamil film to be remade from the 1978 version, after Naan Avanillai.

After the official announcement of the production company, the director and the cameraman, Vishnuvardhan and Nirav Shah began to select other members of the cast and the crew to be a part of the Billa team. Ajith could not assist in helping choose the other members. On 13 April 2007, the eve of Tamil New Year's Day, the launch of Billa took place at the AVM studios in Vadapalani, Chennai.^[8] Among the attendees were the stars of the old cast, Rajinikanth, Sripriya, Suresh Balaji as well as noted directors Mani Ratnam, Dharani, K. S. Ravikumar, and Saran. The confirmed cast until the date of the launch also were invited, among them Ajith along with his wife, Shalini, Nayanthara, Namitha and Prabhu.

Filming

The song "Sevalkodi" was shot at Murugan Temple, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Apart from the casting of Ajith in the dual lead role, previously played by Rajinikanth, the rest of the cast took nearly four months to finalise. The role played by Sripriya in the original was given to Nayantara in early 2007,^[9][10] controversially after Bollywood actress, Isha Sharvani, who had been in contention to act in the last few movies of Kumar, was paid the advance.^[11] Vishnuvardhan reported that he was pleased with Nayanthara's role in E and subsequently opted for her. The other lead female role in the film was initially written for Shriya Saran,^[12] but due to her contract with Sivaji: The Boss, she refused to accept the film. Despite other actresses such as Trisha,^[13][14] Reema Sen,^[15] Asin^[16] and Bhanu being considered,^[17] the role was eventually given to Pooja Umashankar.^[18] However, she refused the role, citing that she was reluctant to appear in a bikini, as the role required. Subsequently, Namitha was signed up for the role. Nayanthara was later finalized as the female lead.^[19][20]

The remaining members of the cast were selected after the launch, which was held on 13 April 2007. Despite early reports of Prakash Raj playing the role enacted by K. Balaji of an inspector in the original,^[21] the role was eventually secured by Prabhu.^[22] The role of the comedian was tipped to go Vadivelu,^[23] after he received rave reviews for his comic chemistry in Chandramukhi with Rajinikanth. However, despite the reviews, Vishnuvardhan's regular pattern meant that the spotlight for a comedian would be limited. Santhanam replaced him.^[24] Another character artiste, Adithya, also signed up to be one of the members of the police troupe, as did Malayalam actor Rahman, who with Billa made his comeback into Tamil cinema. The item number danced by Helen in the original was originally given to Mumaith Khan,^[25] but was later changed to newcomer Rose Dawn, for unknown reasons.

For his crew, Vishnuvardhan picked his preferred technicians, with Rajkannan as the dialogue writer, Nirav Shah as the cinematographer, William Ong as the stunt master, Thota Tharani as the art director, Pa. Vijay as the chief lyricist and A. Sreekar Prasad as the editor. Vishnuvardhan's orthodox music composer, Yuvan Shankar Raja, was chosen, creating great expectations for the project, while Vishnuvardhan's wife, Anu Vardhan, worked as a costume designer.^[3] Majority of the film was shot in Malaysia at locations including Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur overlooking the Petronas Towers and other parts, while a few scenes were shot at the Binny Mills in Chennai.

Box office

The film was released in over 200 screens in Tamil Nadu and 50 screens overseas.^[32] The film was made on a budget of ₹15 crore (worth ₹61 crore in 2021 prices) and sold to Ayngaran International for ₹25 crore.^[3] In its opening weekend, Billa collected about ₹3 crores.^[33] In Chennai alone it collected ₹5.2 crore. The film completed a 175-day run at theatres and was declared a blockbuster. It is reported to have sold 1 crore tickets in India.^[34] In Kerala, it collected more than the usual top Malayalam films of the year.^[35] It was highest grossing Ajith film at that time until release of Mankatha and was the second highest grossing tamil movie behind Sivaji: The Boss.

Critical response

Billa opened to primarily positive critical response.^[36] Sify lauded the film, writing: Billa delivers the goods with its great star cast, a designer look, technical glitz, perfect chemistry making it an entertainment extravaganza". The reviewer claimed that it was the "first designer-look Kollywood film with classy action cuts" and a "technically chic, racy, engrossing entertainer with a Hollywood look", going on to call it "racy & rocking". The critic also heaped praise on the lead actor: "Ajith looks sensational and clearly he is at home, playing dual roles of Billa and Velu. He is suave, dashing, and debonair and has a terrific screen presence which makes the film work big time. You just cannot think of any other actor in Tamil donning the role made memorable by Rajinikanth".^[37] Behindwoods rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote: "... where Vishnu Vardhan scores is in his crystal clear vision. He doesn’t want to challenge the original nor change its content. All he wants to do is to repackage it stylishly for today’s trend with some present avant-garde styles in film making. The deliberate attempts by the director not to follow the super star’s style are palpable in every frame, which has made Billa stand out tall and high". In regard of Ajith's presence, the reviewer said: "Ajith as the ruthless David Billa is a revelation. Stylish, menacing and electrifying, he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and has completely lived up to it. Rajinikanth can definitely be proud of his successor he has chosen for the tough job".^[38]

Mythili Ramachandran of Nowrunning.com wrote: "Billa ... lives up to its hype and Ajith simply rocks", rating it 3 out of 5. Another reviewer from the same site, gave the same rating, citing: "Billa ... is slick and stylish in keeping with the present modern world...View the movie from a technical angle, and it is undoubtedly in par with Hollywood movies. What a pulsating thriller it has turned out to be".^[39] In contrast, TSV Hari from Rediff wrote that the film "disappoints" and gave it 2.5 out of 5, further claiming: "Director Vishnuvardhan seems to have been in a dilemma as to whether to focus on Ajith or give the film well-etched characters. There are too many diversions in the form of female cleavages in the rain forests of Malaysia and garish sets".^[40] Balaji, who portrayed the DSP in the 1980 film, praised the 2007 film for being "very stylish and looking grand", but expressed his dismay over the absence of the characters previously played by Thengai Srinivasan, S. A. Ashokan and Manorama.^[41]