Here comes a surprise development. Vishnuvardhan is no more the director of ‘Billa 2’, the 51st film of Ajith. Instead, Chakri Toleti of ‘Unnaipol Oruvan’ fame will wield the megaphone for this mega budget film.

Vishnu walked out of the project in an amicable way as he found it hard to do two films at a time- ‘Billa 2’ with Ajith and ‘The Shadow’, a Telugu film with Pawan Kalyan. Following this, the producers found Chakri to replace Vishnu.

A source close to Vishnuvardhan tells us: “Vishnu very much wanted to do both the films. But he couldn’t as dates clashed. So he took a hard decision to opt out of ‘Billa 2’ with a firm belief that his good friend (Ajith) would understand his desire to direct a Telugu film.”

Buzz is that ‘Billa-2’ would go on floors by the last week of April and would hit the screens by this year end. “Chakri Toleti, who studied filmmaking in the US, is excited about working with Ajith,” sources add.