Chennai, Jan 13 Director Vishnuvardhan has stirred a hornet’s nest by claiming that the original superhit film ‘Billa’, featuring Rajinikanth in the lead, didn’t do all that well when it released in 1980, prompting a sharp response from Rajinikanth’s publicist, Riaz Ahmed, who has pointed out that the film was a silver jubilee hit and that Vishnuvardhan could confirm this with Suresh Balaji, the producer of the original version.
Director Vishnuvardhan, who has been promoting his upcoming film ‘Nesippaya’, featuring Akash Murali and Aditi Shankar in the lead, recently gave an interview to a channel during the course of which he spoke about his film ‘Billa’, featuring Ajith Kumar and Nayanthara in the lead.
While talking about his film, he made a remark about the original film ‘Billa’, which released in the year 1980 and which featured Rajinikanth in the lead.
Referring to Rajinikanth-starrer Billa, Vishnuvardhan said, “Do you know the truth? ‘Billa’ did not actually run all that well. Did any of you know? It did not run all that well. It made me wonder, ‘Am I going to do this film?’ Then I had to see what I actually liked in the film. That was when I realized that they had taken a dark character and made the film. That is a great idea.”
Now, Rajinikanth’s publicist has taken to his X timeline to set the record straight.
Tagging Vishnuvardhan, he wrote, “Dear @vishnu_dir
sir, I would like to politely bring to your attention that the 1980 release #Billa was a Silver Jubilee Hit . You may kindly confirm this with the producer of the original version, Mr Suresh Balaji. I humbly request you to ensure accuracy in your statements to avoid sharing incorrect information. #RajjniBillaBlockbuster #ThalaivarNirandharam”
Interestingly, Vishnuvardhan’s film ‘Billa’, featuring Ajith, was a remake of the R Krishnamoorthy’s ‘Billa’, featuring Rajinikanth in the lead and produced by well-known producer Suresh Balaje. The film, along with Rajinikanth, also featured Sripriya and Balaji, and was the remake of a Hindi film called Don, featuring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.
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