Misplaced Pages

Billa II
Soundtrack album by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Released	2 May 2012
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Language	Tamil
Label	Sony Music
Producer	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology
Mr. Nookayya (2012) Billa II (2012) Dhenikaina Ready (2012)

Billa II is the soundtrack album, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, for the 2012 film of the same name, directed by Chakri Toleti that stars Ajith Kumar as the title character. The album consists of six tracks; five songs and a theme music track. Na. Muthukumar penned all lyrics for the songs.

Production

Although a new director (Chakri Toleti) was chosen to direct the prequel, Yuvan Shankar Raja, who had worked on the score of Billa (2007), was retained as the composer of Billa II, which became his fifth project starring Ajith Kumar. The soundtrack album was reported to feature six tracks, including one promotional video song. It consists of five songs and a theme music track, an altered version of the original 2007 Billa theme. Yuvan Shankar Raja had composed a sixth song for a belly dance sequence, which was not included in the soundtrack, but featured only in the film. Na. Muthukumar agreed to write the lyrics, replacing Pa. Vijay who had worked on Billa's lyrics. In a departure from convention, the lyrics were penned first which were set to tunes later.

Yuvan Shankar Raja revealed in 2014 told that he tried to recruit Shakira for the project but failed because of "budget troubles". In late January 2012, Yuvan Shankar Raja left for Florida, US, Chakri's home place, to finish the compositions. During the trip, he had composed a "melody song". Singer Krish informed via Twitter that he had lent his voice for a R&B style song that would be the introduction track of the protagonist, while Shweta Pandit was reported to have performed one song, too. However, Krish's version was later replaced by Yuvan Shankar himself. Re-recording works began by May 2012 in Mumbai.

Release

The audio launch was initially to be released in mid-March 2012, but was then pushed to second week of April. Actor Rajinikanth was approached to unveil the soundtrack, with the team supposedly rescheduling the audio launch to suit Rajinikanth's dates, who had left for London for the filming of his film Kochadaiyaan. The soundtrack was unveiled on 1 May 2012, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's birthday. Sony Music Entertainment that marketed the album of Ajith Kumar's previous film Mankatha, acquired the music rights of Billa II as well for an unprecedented sum after some weeks-long negotiations. In the week before the audio launch, Sony Music began releasing teasers of each of the songs every day and promoted them across social platforms. The Telugu version of the soundtrack was released on 5 June 2012 at the Taj Deccan in Hyderabad.

Reception

Rediff's Pavithra Srinivasan gave it 3 stars out of 5 and went to add that Yuvan Shankar Raja had "infused certain freshness to the music", describing it as "quite promising".

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Na. Muthukumar

Personnel

Instruments

• Live Drums & Percussion: V. Kumar
• Flute: Napoleon
• Veena: Devi
• Sitar: Ganesh
• Nadaswaram: Thirumoorthy
• Electric Guitar: Kabuli & Joshwa
• Tabla: L. V. Prasad, Prasad, Madhu, V.Ramana, Neelu, Venkat Balu, Venkatrao, Shruti
• Tavil: Sundar
• Female Harmony: Surmuki, Priya, Priyadharshini, Anitha

Production

• Program Manager: V. Karthik
• Program Co-ordination: A. S. Subbiah
• Recorded at: Prasad Studios & S.a.s.i Studios, Chennai
• Recorded by: M.Kumaraguruparan, Baranidharan & Prabhakar
• Theme Music mixed by M.Kumaraguruparan
• Theme Music mastered at Studio N.Y.S.A. Mumbai
• Theme Music mastered by Murali
• Mixed at nHow Studios, Berlin, Germany
• Mixed by Kausikan Sivalingam & Özgür İkinci
• Mastered at Masterlab Berlin

References

1. ^ "Sony Music snaps Billa 2 audio". Sify. 6 March 2012. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
2. ^ "I compete only with myself". The New Indian Express. India. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
3. Manigandan, K. R. (25 June 2012). "Shot Cuts: A weird friendship". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
4. "Tamil Cinema News | Tamil Movie Reviews | Tamil Movie Trailers - IndiaGlitz Tamil". Archived from the original on 30 June 2012.
5. "Billa 2 Is Full Of Thrills". Behindwoods. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
6. "Striking a Chord: The Yuvan Shankar Raja Interview". 22 August 2014.
7. "Yuvan flies to Florida enroute to Hollywood !". Sify. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
8. "Yuvan's melody in Billa 2". The Times of India. 12 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
9. @krishoffl (14 February 2012). "Special thanks to @Raja_Yuvan. Sung a superb song "Billa 2" Hero Intro Song. Sounding simply great. Thank u soo much Yuvan" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. @krishoffl (14 February 2012). "The song about the great thala (The Billa) and its more of R&B style.. Super music by Yuvan. And the way thala appears was really good." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
11. ""Singing is a beautiful process." Singer Shweta Pandit talks with BollySpice about her life and music". BollySpice. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
12. @krishoffl (25 April 2012). "My voice has been replaced by Yuvan in Billa 2. And guys watch out.. behind this.. There is a pleasant surprise for all Yuvan fans;-)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
13. "Billa 2 re-recording in Mumbai?". Sify. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
14. "Will Rajini attend Billa 2 audio launch?". The Times of India. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
15. "Rajini to unveil Ajith's 'Billa 2' music?". IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
16. "Billa 2 audio, on Ajith's birthday?". Sify. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
17. "Sony Music snaps Billa 2 audio". Sify. 6 March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
18. "Billa 2 audio online!". The Times of India. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
19. "Sony Music goes viral to promote Tamil movie 'Billa 2' songs | Editorial-News". Radioandmusic.com. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
20. "Telugu Cinema News | Telugu Movie Reviews | Telugu Movie Trailers - IndiaGlitz Telugu". Archived from the original on 6 June 2012.
21. "Review: Billa 2 music is quite promising".

• Yuvan Shankar Raja soundtracks
• 2012 soundtrack albums
• Sony Music India soundtracks
• Tamil film soundtracks