The story focuses on how David Billa, an ordinary man from the coastal regions of Sri Lanka, becomes a dreaded underworld don.

The film stars Ajith Kumar reprising the role of the titular character, leading an ensemble cast including[5] Vidyut Jammwal, Parvathy Omanakuttan, Bruna Abdullah, Yog Japee, Rohit Khurana, Manoj K. Jayan, Sudhanshu Pandey, Dinesh Lamba, Krishna Kumar, Sricharan, Janaki Sabesh, Madhusudhan Rao and Rahman.

The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while R. D. Rajasekhar handled the cinematography and Suresh Urs worked as the editor.

The film, produced by Wide Angle Creations in association with the Hinduja Group company IN Entertainment, was officially announced in November 2010, with Vishnuvardhan as the director.

[6] The film revolves David Billa, a Sri Lankan refugee, along with several others, arrives at a camp in Rameswaram, where he befriends Ranjith.

A few days later, Billa and Ranjith are hired to transport fish from Rameswaram to Chennai, which is a plot by Raghubir to trap them as the truck they are driving has diamonds inside.

When Billa and Ranjith retrieve Dmitri's arms consignment held by the Indian coastal guard, they enter his good books.

Billa meets corrupted interpol officer Jagdish in Dimitri's mansion, and is astonished by the functioning of the mafia and its international network.

In 2010, sources confirmed that Vishnuvardhan had finished penning the script for a prequel, which would star Ajith Kumar as the titular character again,[11] and would commence in 2011.

[14][15] The entire production team of the Billa remake, including cinematographer Nirav Shah, editor A. Sreekar Prasad and music director Yuvan Shankar Raja, were announced to be retained for the sequel.

[16] In a turn of events, Vishnuvardhan opted out of the project citing that his dates clashed with the making of his Telugu film, Panjaa (earlier titled as The Shadow).

[20][21] Both the director and the producer refused to confirm the statements, disclosing only that the film would depict David's journey over a period of five years.

[24] Hemant Chaturvedi, who hitherto had worked in Bollywood productions only, was signed on to replace Nirav Shah as the cinematographer after the latter's schedules clashed with the making of his other film, Vettai.

[25] However, in July 2011, Hemant Chaturvedi too moved out of the project, fearing that the delay in commencement of Billa 2 may hurt his chances in Bollywood, and R. D. Rajasekhar was appointed as the new cinematographer.

Murugan, who had previously collaborated with Chakri Toleti in the Kamal Haasan-starrer Unnaipol Oruvan, was appointed to write the dialogue.

[32][33][34] However, she was removed from the project by September 2011, due to date clashes,[35] and became replaced by Miss India World 2008 Parvathy Omanakuttan later that month,[36][37] who the director had spotted and offered the role of Jasmine at a fashion show.

[38] Parvathy described her character as a "simple girl who transforms into a modern person" and that Billa looks up to, adding that she was had more scenes in the "emotional part" of the film.

[39] Bollywood actress and model Bruna Abdullah was selected to portray another significant character,[40] which she went on term as "super powerful, very strong and sexy".

Another three models including, Gabriela Bertante, Nicole Amy Madell, and an unknown artist, was recruited to perform a dance number "Yedho Mayakkam".

[46] Actress Vimala Raman was signed on to make a special appearance in the film,[47][48] however she opted out in July 2011 citing date problems.

[52] Reports in February 2012 suggested that the team was trying to sign Nayantara, who played the female lead in Billa, for a cameo role;[53] the actress refuted the rumours.

[56] During that period, it was also suggested that Billa II may not be Ajith Kumar's successive project and commence only after the actor completed a film with M.

[59] Both actresses Parvathy Omanakuttan and Bruna Abdullah joined the crew for the second schedule in Goa,[60] that lasted for 39 days and ended in the first week of November.

[80] The producer however confirmed that the film would feature a sixth song, not included in the soundtrack that was composed for a belly dance sequence.

[88] 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.

[104] An event to launch the official theatrical trailer was planned to be held on 2 July at the Anna Centenary Library auditorium in Kotturpuram, Chennai.

The overseas distribution rights were sold for 53 million to the US-based company GK Media, the highest ever for an Ajith film.

[110][6] The film was released simultaneously in the four southern states, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala as well as in North India and international markets.

[6] In Tamil Nadu, it opened across 550 theatres,[129] while a dubbed Telugu version of the film released in Andhra Pradesh as David Billa.

The camerawork by R. D. Rajasekhar, background score by Yuvan Shankar Raja and editing by Suresh Urs are superlative for the most part", and that the film "does live up to the hype".