Rajnikant’s film debut may have been humble, in an insignificant role, but the success he had achieved in a very short span, by the late 70s, was unimaginable.
Such mass adulation, the thunderous rain of applause when Rajni delivered his lines, all put together, made him a phenomenon. It was at this point that Rajni realised the onus had been thrust on him.
This sudden exposure to the glare of the media and the popularity and money he never imagined would be his, created a lot of stress in his mind, in the late 70s.
At that crucial time in his career when his market price had just begun to zoom, he decided to opt out of films completely, sending shock waves to his fans.
Balachander and his other wellwishers somehow, coaxed Rajini into staying on. It was an arduous task.
After much speculations about Rajini's self-retirement for about a year, the 2nd phase of his life started with Billa, a superhit disproving the canard spread by detractors that Rajni was 'finished.'
Billla was the all-important threshold point, following which Rajini was accepted as a full-fledged hero. Billa was followed by a row of hits like Pokkiri Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and Moondru Mugham,
The R. Krishnamurthy-directed Billa was a remake of the Hindi film Don (1978) written by Salim–Javed.
The film was named after Billa, a real criminal.
For the first time in his career, Rajinikanth was cast in dual roles: the eponymous gangster and the street entertainer Rajappa.
Although the film was a shot-for-shot adaptation of Don, Rajini avoided aping Amitabh Bachchan, the lead actor of the original, and instead interpreted the roles in his own unique style.
K. Balaji played the role of the DSP Alexander, while Sripriya was signed to play the female lead, which Zeenat Aman had portrayed in the original Hindi version.
J. Jayalalithaa was first offered Sripriya role's of Radha, but she declined the offer.
Thengai Srinivasan was selected to play the role originally portrayed by Pran in Don.
Cinematography was handled by G. Or. Nathan, and the editing by V. Chakrapani.
Actress Helen plays the same role which she played in the Hindi version Don. In this film, her character name is Reena.
The film was produced by Balaji's son Suresh Balaje under Suresh Arts, while K. Balaji was credited as presenter.
The film's original soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, while all the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.
The song 'Vethalaya Potendi' replaced 'Khaike Paan Banaras Wala' from the original Don.
SPB's My Name is Billa and Malaysia Vasudevan's Vethalaya Potendi became chartbusters.
Several footage were used from the Hindi movie Don such as the car chase between Don and the Police and when Don gets shot at the back and jumps to the river.
Billa was released on 26 January 1980. It ran for over 25 weeks in TN theatres, and became Rajinikanth's biggest commercial success to that point
Following Billa's success, Rajini was subsequently cast in a series of roles modelled after Amitabh Bachchan's 'angry young man' persona, in Tamil remakes of Hindi films written by Salim–Javed.
The success of Billa first established Rajinikanth as one of the biggest stars of South Indian cinema.
It also started the trend where the hero enjoys being a gangster and the audience is not shown the character's backstory, in contrast to earlier films where the protagonist takes to crime due to fate.
Billa's dialogue 'En kodi parakavendiya yedathula vera yevan kodi da parakum' (How can another man's flag fly in a place where my flag should fly?) attained popularity.
Actor Krishnamurthy became popularly known as 'Billa' Krishnamurthy after this film's release.
Billa was remade again in 2007 under the same title by Vishnuvardhan, with Ajith Kumar portraying Billa.
This remake featured remixes of the songs 'Vethalayai Potendi' and 'My Name is Billa'
Vishnuvardhan decided to launch a prequel – Billa II with Ajith reprising his role. But due to date issues, Vishnuvardhan left the project, leaving it to Chakri Toleti. The film was released in 2012.
Here are a few more nostalgic snapshots from the 1980 film...
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