''Shiva'' is a 1990 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

action drama The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

film written and directed by

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu films.** * * Varma has dir ...

. It was a remake of Varma's debut Telugu film, '' Siva'' (1989). The film has

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

(in his

debut) and Amala in lead roles with Raghuvaran and J. D. Chakravarthy as the antagonists. All four actors reprise their roles from the original Telugu film. The film became a blockbuster. The success led to

directing a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

in 2006.

Plot

The film opens in a classroom in VAS College of Arts & Sciences. After the classes, upon the directions of a college student, JD, a bunch of goons led by Ganesh savagely assaults a group of students right outside the college gate. It's later made clear that JD was settling some campus scores and that the incident resulted in at least one student leaving the college, deepening the fear for JD on the campus. It turns out that JD is the (unopposed) president of the college students' union and the leader of a notorious campus gang, powerful enough to prevent the college principal from taking disciplinary actions against their unsavory conduct, which includes eve-teasing and insulting professors. JD's connections, through Ganesh, reach a gangster named Bhavani Chaudhury, whose criminal network lends muscle to a local politician, Tilak Dhari. Shiva is a new student at college. He joins a small group of friends, including Prakash and Asha. Shiva's confident gait and tough attitude led to JD locking horns with him. An inevitable fight ensues, in which Shiva and friends beat up JD's gang in broad daylight within the campus. Emboldened by the incident, Shiva's friends plan to fight the students' union elections. Shiva proposes the nerdy friend Naresh to stand for the presidency. He also rebuffs Ganesh's initial warning to stay out of politics. When Ganesh attempts to use force, Shiva beats him back too. The matter comes before Bhavani. Bhavani is mildly annoyed, but he studies Shiva as a potential replacement for JD. At his behest, Naresh is assaulted and rendered unable to run. At this point, Shiva accepts the nomination and decides to run. Meanwhile, Bhavani has other troubles. He refuses to side with the worker's union leader, Krishna Rao. Krishna Rao takes his plight to Shiva who agrees to help in return for muscle, and Rao provides this by calling upon the workers. Around this time, Asha expresses a romantic interest in Shiva. The friendship progresses, and they eventually marry. The stage is now set. Bhavani launches a set of sniper attacks on those close to Shiva. Shiva retaliates in kind and takes out many of Bhavani's leaders. Tilak Dhari notices that Shiva is launching a fitting response to Bhavani and decides to stop supporting him. Angered, humiliated, and defeated, Bhavani strikes Shiva's home and finds Asha. When he learns that Ganesh has already been presented in court and an arrest warrant has been issued for him, Bhavani kills Asha and Tilakdhari for betrayal and leaves. A final fight ensues in which eventually Shiva manages to kill Bhavani, ridding the city of one of its most terrifying anti-social elements, while personally coming to terms with the fact that he has lost almost everything in the bargain.

Cast

as Shiva * Amala as Asha Akhouri * Raghuvaran as Bhavani Chaudhary * J. D. Chakravarthy as Jagdish Dave "J.D." *

Paresh Rawal Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has Paresh Rawal filmography, appeared in over 240 films and is the recipient of various L ...

as Tilakdhari Azaad * Tanikella Bharani as Nanaji * Iftekhar as Principal * Chandrashekhar as Lecturer * Girija Shankar as Inspector Tejesh Akhouri *

Raj Zutshi Rajendranath Zutshi (born 4 February 1961) is an Indian film and television actor. Personal life Zutshi was born on 4 February 1961 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India into a Kashmiri Pandit family. Raj Zutshi is a ...

as Prakash * Ajit Vachani as Krishna Rao * Goga Kapoor as Kanta Prasad *Brij Gopal as Ganesh * Dilip Dhawan as Shiva's Brother * Chinna as Chotu * Ramjagan as Naresh * Brahmaji as Kanta Prasad's Driver * Uttej as Yadagiri * Rohini Hattangadi as Prakash's Mother * Beena Banerjee as Shiva's Sister-In-Law * Puri Jagannadh in a cameo *Baby Sushma as Keerthi

Production

The college campus depicted in the film was shot at State Agricultural University in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

References

External links

*
Documentary on Shiva
{{Ram Gopal Varma, state

collapsed 1990 films Films directed by Ram Gopal Varma Films set in Hyderabad, India Hindi remakes of Telugu films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja 1990s Hindi-language films 1990s Indian films Indian political thriller films Indian action thriller films 1990 action thriller films 1990s political thriller films