Siva (1989)

Original title

శివ

Directed by

Ram Gopal Varma

Genre

drama film, action film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 25m

Rated

A

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 25 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A new student at an engineering college discovers that local thugs are exploiting the students. He decides to fight back against them.

intensegrittyrawurgenttensesocially chargedgroundedfast-paced

What happens

Shiva (also spelt Siva) is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language crime action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma in his directoral debut and the film is produced by Akkineni Venkat and Yarlagadda Surendra under Annapurna Studios and SS Creations. The film, which marks the directorial debut of Ram Gopal Varma, explores the concepts of student exploitation by anti-social elements and the impact of crowd psychology. Varma's script was based on his experiences as a student at Siddhartha Engineering College in Vijayawada. Tanikella Bharani wrote the dialogues. Ilaiyaraaja composed the soundtrack and score, while S. Gopala Reddy was its cinematographer. Thota Tharani and Sattibabu were the art director and editor respectively. The principal photography began on 16 February 1989, and was completed in 55 working days. Except for three days of shooting in Madras (now Chennai), Shiva was filmed in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Shiva was released on 5 October 1989 to critical acclaim, primarily for its technology and sound design. Producers Venkat and Surendra had average expectations before the release due to the film's unconventional approach. Upon release, Shiva exceeded everyone's expectations in the production team and became the highest-grossing film of Telugu cinema and was declared an Industry Hit. It also became the highest-grossing South Indian film during its theatrical run. It was featured in the Indian Panorama mainstream section of the 13th IFFI, held on 19 January 1990. Shiva attained cult status and is considered Nagarjuna's breakthrough film. It was credited with the introduction of steadicam and new sound recording techniques in Telugu cinema, encouraging filmmakers to explore a variety of themes and make experimental films. For the April 2013 centennial of Indian cinema, News18 included Shiva on its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time. The Tamil-dubbed version Udhayam was also a major commercial success in Tamil Nadu. Varma remade the film in Hindi with the same name with Nagarjuna and Amala reprising their roles, and it performed well at the box office. A documentary titled Exploring Shiva after 25 Years was released on the film's silver anniversary and it was the first documentary about a Telugu film. In addition to the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu, Shiva won three Nandi Awards: Best Director (Varma), Best First Film of a Director, and Best Dialogue Writer (Bharani). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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