Billa (2009): watch the full film free, legally

Ranga takes Billa's place

Billa is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language action thriller directed by Meher Ramesh. Prabhas plays two roles, with Krishnam Raju, Anushka Shetty, Namitha, Rahman and Kelly Dorjee also starring. Mani Sharma composed the score and soundtrack. The film remakes the 2007 Tamil-language Billa, itself a remake of the 1980 film Billa, which was remade from the 1978 Hindi film Don.

The story opens in Malaysia, where the underworld don Billa operates while hiding from Interpol's international criminal list. ACP Krishnamoorthy has spent years pursuing him, having left his life in India behind. A police chase ends with Billa severely wounded in an accident, and he dies in front of the ACP. Krishnamoorthy keeps the death secret and arranges a private funeral, since nobody else knows that Billa is dead.

He finds Billa's lookalike, Katikaranga, known as Ranga, a petty thief from Visakhapatnam. Krishnamoorthy offers Ranga a deal: if he enters Billa's gang by impersonating the dead criminal, the ACP will secure an education in Hyderabad for Lakshmi and Sreenu, the children Ranga adopted. After training him, the ACP sends him into the gang claiming that Billa has lost his memory.

Ranga learns the workings of the criminal network and speaks by phone with Devil, Billa's boss. He is drawn to Maya, a gang member who intends to kill Billa because Billa murdered her brother Vikram and Vikram's fiancée Priya. Ranga passes secret information on a pen drive to the ACP, but Maya nearly kills him before Krishnamoorthy reveals that he is Ranga. Maya then joins their mission and falls in love with him.

A cover exposed in Malaysia

Before a party, Ranga gives the ACP information about a meeting involving Billa's network. Lisa, Billa's girlfriend, overhears him and confronts him. During their fight, Ranga accidentally kills her. A shootout follows at the party, and someone secretly kills Krishnamoorthy, leaving the ACP's gun behind. Ranga discovers the body and gun, then police officers led by Interpol Officer Dharmendra take him into custody.

Ranga tells Dharmendra that he is not Billa and points to the pen drive as evidence, but it has disappeared. Unable to establish his innocence, he escapes from a police van.

Prabhas and Meher Ramesh

The project developed while Kantri was being made in 2008. N. T. Rama Rao Jr. had expressed an interest in a Telugu remake of Billa after his grandfather N. T. Rama Rao's Yugandhar from 1979. Ramesh felt Rama Rao Jr. did not suit the role at that stage of his career. He also considered Ravi Teja, but budget constraints ended that plan. Prabhas was later approached and was excited to take on the project. Krishnam Raju, Prabhas' uncle, joined in a pivotal role, their first on-screen collaboration.

Ramesh cast Anushka Shetty as the female lead. She worked for more than two months to slim down for the part. Hansika Motwani agreed to appear when Ramesh suggested the film to her, while Namitha also lost weight before signing on. Ramesh initially wanted Sameer Reddy or Chota K. Naidu as cinematographer, but neither was available on the required dates. Soundararajan was selected instead, making his Telugu-cinema debut.

The film launched at the Gopikrishna Pictures office on 9 October 2008. Production included three months of extensive filming in Malaysia and finished in 104 working days. It was released on 3 April 2009 and distributed worldwide by Creative Commercials. It received mixed reviews and was a box-office success. Jeevi of Idlebrain called the first half “alright” but found the second half disappointing and prolonged, while praising Prabhas' makeover, styling and the production values.

The Times of India said the film had more style than substance, though it called Prabhas impressive as a suave, ruthless don. Bangalore Mirror described it as extremely stylish by Telugu standards and noted its Malaysian locations and Prabhas' physical conditioning. The audio launch took place at Shilpakala Vedika on 18 March 2009, with Dasari Narayana Rao, S. S. Rajamouli, V. V. Vinayak, Gopichand and Allu Arjun attending. Dasari Narayana Rao launched the music.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “Billa (2009 film)”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.