Billa 2 is undergoing a lot of changes

Ajith starrer Billa 2 is undergoing a lot of changes as his recent release Mankatha is grand success at the box office. Billa 2’s director Chakri Toleti is being assisted by the Aaranya Kaandam director Kumararaja in this and they are making a lot of changes to the original script. Mankatha took Kollywood by storm due to its massive opening and Ajith has been declared as the Emperor of Opening. To keep up to this name and to his fans’ expectations, the Billa 2 team is making some changes, sources say.

A.M. Rathnam to produce Ajith's next film?

The latest buzz in K town is that veteran producer A.M. Rathnam has offered a whopping Rs. 15 crore to Ajith for his next film post Billa 2. As of now, director Vishnuvardhan, who missed an opportunity to work with Ajith in Billa 2, will be directing this venture. The proposed project is expected to go on floors in December after Ajith completes Billa 2.
Interestingly, a few years back, the rift between Ajith and producer A.M. Rathnam made headlines in Kollywood. But now it looks like everything has been solved.
As they say, there are no permanent friends or foes in the film world!

Fab 50 of Ajith

Ajith Is The Box Office King

The Ultimate Star has proved that he is indeed the King of the Kollywood Box Office! Ajith, whose 50th film has met with resounding success at the BO, should be on cloud nine.

While his last release, more than a year and a half back, Asal, did not drive audiences to the theatre in droves, Mankatha has had audiences coming back for seconds and thirds.

He has always remained elusive to the media and never taken part in the marketing promotions and publicity that most stars do. In fact, the audio for Mankatha was released by the director, Venkat Prabhu and the music director, Yuvan Shankar Raja. Despite Ajith staying away from any promotional activities, the hype and buzz around this movie was extraordinary. And being his 50th film, the curiosity factor was really high for his fans and others. The movie has grossed more than Rs 35 crores and its songs continue to reign in the music charts.

What had the women swooning over, once the film released, was definitely his salt-and-pepper look. Tell him that women loved it and the star humbly says, ""Thank you.""

Ajith Kumar - Rajini & Kamal In One

With Mangatha, Ajit has proved again that he is an actor with serious pursuits.

‘Thala'( short for thalaiva) Ajit is an enigma. He shuns the spotlight after shooting unlike others who seek it all the time. He seldom gives interviews and you will never find him sharing the podium with all and sundry for innocuous causes or at incongruous awards functions. He calls a spade a spade and at a rare do he attended, Rajni stood up and applauded when Ajit requested political parties not to force stars to attend gatherings that don't involve them. His ascendance to superstardom has been studied and gradual. His earlier films show that he was not keen on the number games but wanted to do a variety of roles. For me “Vaalee” first showcased his talent in a double role. He was riveting in the role of the mute twin who lusts for his sister-in-law. “Mugavaree” was another film in which his performance was poignant. I think it was with ‘Dheena' that he was accepted as an action hero and fans found it fit to form ‘ mandrams'(clubs). There followed a confused phase when Ajit seemed to sign all the wrong films like ‘Red', ‘Citizen' and ‘Jana' just to name a few. It's remarkable that even after a slew of box-office turkeys, fans faith in their ‘Thala' was unshaken. The initial box-office collections of ‘Mangatha' aided by the extra long festive weekend has taken the film industry by storm. That it has sustained after the holidays shows that the film will be one of the biggest grosser ever.

Ajit rocks in the film and is solely responsible for its success which also happens to be his fiftieth. He's the hero but plays a suspended cop who's after a huge cache of betting money which is in the safe keep of a local don. Ajit has to be lauded for playing the role with a panache unseen on the Indian screen especially for a hero. Even Kamal has not dared to sport grey hair when not portraying multiple roles. The George Clooney look suits him and none of his fans have protested. Ajit drinks, smokes, cheats on his girlfriend and even dumps her in his pursuit of pelf.

In fact, Arjun Sarja is the hero because he plays the good cop. Well, the credit for the film's success goes entirely to Ajit simply because the film is mediocre. Director Venkat Prabhu has been busy watching DVDs involving heist and betrayal. He fills the screen with his cronies who are regulars in all his films. Ajit's overpowering presence simply dwarfs all the other characters in the film.

In fact a much better film along similar lines is the recently released ‘Aranya Kandam' which flopped but is now being hailed as a classic. Ironically Ajit was so impressed with the film that he's supposed to have met the director Thiagarajan a few times. Let's hope something exciting emerges.

Never one to shy away from unconventional roles Ajit is emerging to be the enviable amalgam of Rajni and Kamal which is the dream of every Tamil star.

Billa Team's Game Plan

Ajith in Race remake?

The Tamil film industry is buzzing with news that Ajith might star in the remake of the Hindi film Race, which has Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles. Dhananjayan of UTV Motion Pictures also revealed that they are keen to remake Race in Tamil with Ajith.
The original Race had all the elements of suspense, drama, betrayal, revenge and a car race scene in the climax, as it was a film showcasing the rivalry between two rich brothers played by Akshay Khanna and Saif Ali Khan. There are also reports that Ajith will be doing the twin brother act for the fourth time after Vaali, Villain, and Varalaaru.

‘Mankatha’ to gross with Rs. 30Crores in 1st Week

Thala fever all over the globe now…. Following the huge success of ‘Endhiran’, Tamil film industry has one more reason to rejoice and it’s because of Thala’s ‘Mankatha’. The film opened on August 31st, 2011 grossing with big collections. Mayajaal played the film in 14 screens from early morning with 70 shows each day that approximately results in a collection of Rs. 12, 60, 000. Sathyam Cinemas for the first time after ‘Endhiran’ played ‘Mankatha’ special shows in all the theatres that had 100% results.

Thala Ajith Kumar has once again proved that he is the ‘King of Box Office’ for his film has seen a 100% opening. Everyone in Kollywood is elated with the grand success of this film as they believe that it will take Tamil film industry to the next level. Trade reports have confirmed that Mankatha is the second biggest opener in Tamil film business for it has witnessed an approximate collection of Rs. 6.5Crore on August 31 itself.

Braveheart Ajith and the fitting fifty!

At a time when movie buffs are being inebriated with the ecstasy of Ajith’s golden jubilee film Mankatha, one cannot but start thinking of the brave move of the handsome star for it needs real gumption to choose a role for his landmark film that defies all the templates that have been created hitherto in the Tamil (or may be Indian) film industry for heroes.

All along, whenever we had heroes doing an antagonist’s role, there were a few rules that were strictly adhered to. Primarily, the hero portraying the anti-hero material would surely have been affected with a serious psychological disorder, may be in younger years, which would be responsible for the indelible effect on his psyche and he would need help and attention to combat this aberration. A good example would be Kamal in Sigappu Rojakkal. A compelling reason for the non-valorous behavior indeed! But for this anomaly, the hero would be an epitome of all things good!
Secondly when the hero swindles money from the ‘have’s, it is only to distribute to the ‘have not’s for flooding them with healthcare, education and other humanely services to ensure that the hero is always immaculately blemish free because he is a HERO! And his Robinhood act is only to protect and save his fellow brethren in need. And till he breathes his last, his being is only for his compatriots. Gentleman Arjun is a perfect example whose actions need only eulogizing and nothing less than that!

Thirdly if the hero had to do all the antonym acts, then there would be an over build up of his character wherein he would be portrayed as a machismo who would rip apart all the baddies of the world with just a twitch in his biceps that would race to his knuckles in the blink of a well curled ‘mascara’ed eyelash and we have umpteen movies as testimony to this.

Quite refreshingly and much to the jubilance of filmphiles, none of the aforementioned features are not even remotely being expressed in the character of Vinayak Mahadev of Mankatha, scripted by Venkat Prabhu.

To put it simply, Vinayak Mahadev is someone who loves MONEY MONEY and MONEY. Nothing else! Nothing else can deter him in this pursuit, not even the gorgeous Trisha! The psyche of Vinayak Mahadev has not been landscaped into all things beautiful and virtuous and he stands before you in all his purity (!). This is a case of simple and straightforward portrayal, no distractions anywhere. This man wants money. And would do anything to get it. And we all know the world abounds in such characters and hence much relatable too!

Completely uncaring about something called image, Ajith unabashedly boozes, smokes, canoodles, lies to his lady love, sports a salt and pepper look with a slight paunch, mouths expletives with venom and he does all this sans a slightest iota of remorse because that is his way of life (on screen).

Ajith’s performance in Mankatha leads to a surmise that the potential of such an explosive actor had been royally squandered by directors (there could be few exceptions) in the past who had nothing else to show of him but slow motion shots of the debonair actor walking up and down in immaculate suits and designer shades. And, mind you, there were lots of people who doubted his dialogue delivering abilities but Mankatha proves them all wrong.

And now with Mankatha, it is evident that Ajith has completely come out of his old garb and has shown absolutely no trepidations to essay such a Kafkaesque portrayal despite the film being a milestone in his two decade long career in the world of gloss and glory.

Cut to the real life, Ajith has come across as someone who is honest and forthright, qualities that are quite rare in the world that we inhabit. He is famous for his politically incorrect statements and is known to speak his mind courageously without any embellishments whatsoever. We have seen him stand up for his principles during a felicitation meet of the former CM seeking his help to artists who did not want to be dragged into such events. In an industry which thrives on fan clubs and fans, he was gutsy enough to disband them overnight, an act which is simply unfathomable in a normal context.

Therefore it certainly does not come as a surprise that Ajith chose to do Vinayak Mahadev of Mankatha without vacillation because it is after all a character that he is playing and he did not mind about the ‘heroic’ image. To quote his stance from the film, “Naan evvaLuvu naaL daan nallavana nadikkaradu”. He just wanted to do a role that was different and exciting. And looking at the film, anybody would see that Ajith has had a field day playing Vinayak Mahadev. A job well-done Ajith!

On a signing off note; if all our heroes shred their so called image to take on such roles and entertain, movie buffs would do a rambunctious jig and would simply say MANKATHA da!

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Ajith’s new fan in Kollywood

Pia Bajpai has said that soon after watching Mankatha, she has become a hardcore Ajith fan. The actress, a self-confessed Salman Khan fan earlier, revealed that after watching Mankatha she couldn’t help turning into an Ajith fan as his performance and style was the highlight of the film.
Pia added that Ajith stole entire show with his mind-blowing performance which is the reason for turning into his fan completely.

Who will direct Ajith post Billa 2?

We all know that the shooting of Ajith's much awaited Billa 2, directed by Chakri Toleti, is progressing briskly in Hyderabad. According to sources, the team will soon move to Goa and Tuticorin to shoot some important sequences. A portion of this film is likely to be shot in Russia. Popular model Huma Qureshi, who has appeared in ads for many leading brands, will play the love interest of David Billa in this film. Bollywood star Sudhanshu Pandey, Bruna Abdullah and Malayalam actor Manoj K. Jayan will play prominent roles in this film, made with a whopping budget of Rs. 35 crores. Billa 2's technical team includes cinematographer Hemant Chaturvedi, editor Sreekar Prasad and music director Yuvan Shankar Raja.
But the big question is: Who will direct Ajith post Billa 2? Well, according to sources, Thala is likely to team up either with Madrasapattinam Vijay or Vishnuvardhan. Ajith and A.L. Vijay have earlier worked together in Kireedom and the actor is looking forward to working with him again. Vishnuvardhan, who directed Ajith in Billa and missed doing Billa 2 due to clash of dates, is also in the race.

Dayanidhi Azhagiri is in cloud nine

At a juncture were the situation was very worst for Dayanidhi Azhagiri, things took a beautiful turn. He was in a great distress to release Thala Ajith’s 50th film Mankatha. At that point of time, his brother Udhayanidhi Stalin entered the scenario and saw to it that this film was released through Sun Pictures on the scheduled date. Now the film has collected heavily worldwide on par with Rajni films.

Dayanidhi Azhagiri who is in cloud nine because of the great success of Mankatha said, “I’m a Proud producer who can walk with my collar high for giving such a MOVIE which has satisfied THALA fans n all who had put money !!Waiting to start my next production… I’m sure I will do another movie with THALA… I’m sure he won’t say NO to Cloud Nine movies…one movie has satisfied most of the Tamil audiences. n that’s MANKATHA !! Thanks to everyone who was a part of it!! LOVE YA (Thala style)!!

How does Ajith become a don in 'Billa 2'?

We all know that Ajith's forthcoming film, 'Billa 2' is a prequel to his 2007 super hit 'Billa' and is touted to showcase Ajith in a younger avatar but here's what that forms the crux of 'Billa 2'...

David (read Ajith) in 'Billa' is an Eelam refugee who comes to Tuticorin aka Thoothukudi which is dominated by a goon played by Ganesh of 'Renigunta' fame. Unexpected events lead Ajith to fight with the thug which is just the beginning, for after which Ajith becomes the hero among the masses having fought away the goon.

'Billa 2' is all about how a commoner becomes one of the most feared dons in the world. The film is directed by Chakri Toleti and has Huma Qureshi and Bruna Abdullah as the female leads and is in its second schedule of shooting

"Ajith Sparkles In His 50th" - Deccan Chronicle Review