BILLA 2 GETS THE LEAD ACTRESS HUMA QURESHI

BILLA 2 GETS THE LEAD ACTRESS

• IN Entertainment (INE), part of Hinduja Group, which is backing AJITH starrer BILLA2 with Wide Angle Creations led by Suresh Balaje and George Pius, has confirmed HUMA QURESHI as the Lead Actress for the Film
• Pre-Production in Full Flow; Tamil Screenplay in Progress
• Other Key Cast and Crew Members to be announced by April end
• BILLA 2 to go on the floors in the second fortnight of May 2011

Chennai April 7, 2011

IN Entertainment (India) Limited (INE), the Company backing Ajith starrer BILLA 2 along with Wide Angle Creations, the Production House led by Suresh Balaje and George Pius has confirmed Huma Qureshi as the Lead Actress essaying the role of Billa’s love interest in the Film.

Huma is a young theatre actor from Delhi now living in Mumbai. She was first noticed for her TV Commercials with Aamir Khan (Samsung Guru Mobile) and Shah Rukh Khan (Nerolac Paints). She has also done campaigns for other leading brands like Idea, Pears Soap, Maderma, Bajaj Discover Motorbike, Parle Monaco and LG Washing Machine. Huma has also worked with several theatre directors like Aamir Raza Husain, Sohaila Kapur, Rahul Pulkeshi and NK Sharma of Act One Group. She has been awarded the most promising theatre talent by Indian Habitat Centre. She is debuting in Hindi films with Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur, which is currently under production.

Sunir Kheterpal, CEO – IN Entertainment, says, “Having spent almost two months looking at options for the Lead Actress for the Film along with the Director and Wide Angle Films, we have formalizedHuma Qureshi as the Lead Actress for the Film. The lead girl in BILLA 2 has a strong, pivotal role. We are extremely confident that Huma has the requisite talent, temperament and the screen presence to carry the same with élan.”

Confirming her association with the Film, Huma Qureshi comments, “I am delighted to be a part of the legendary BILLA Franchise and feel fortunate to debut in the Tamil film industry and get to play a character like this so early in my career. I was bowled over by the role narrated to me for BILLA 2and cannot wait to start work on the Film.”

Chakri Toleti, the Director adds, “”The part of our leading girl is a highly demanding role and it was a challenge to find an actress with just the right mix of talent, looks and attitude.  We searched the industry nationwide, looking at newcomers as well as established stars. Huma is a tremendous actor with tremendous range and charisma and we are happy to have her on board.”

This completes principal casting for BILLA 2. Amongst key crew members, Yuvan Shankar Raja is confirmed as the Music Director and Hemant Chaturvedi (who has earlier worked on Company, Maqbool and Kurbaan) as the Director of Photography. Other members of cast & crew shall be announced towards the end of April 2011. The Film is being readied to start principal photography in the second fortnight of May 2011.

Billa was earlier made into Tamil with Superstar Rajnikanth as the remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Don. The Film was remade in 2007 again into Tamil with Ajith playing the role essayed by Rajnikanth. However, unlike the Hindi remake with Shah Rukh Khan, where ending of the Film was changed to keep the lead protagonist alive, Billa maintained the same story as the original film. BILLA 2 is therefore not a sequel but is being designed as a Prequel to Billa, wherein the Film will focus on the journey of how David became Billa.