You have to give the devil his due sometimes. Just as director Krishna Vamshii remarked: "Shiva" is indeed the "Sholay" of Tollywood. Ram Gopal Varma definitely deserves credit for unleashing it on celluloid.
When the film released on Oct.5, 1989 I was in college. The promos looked exciting. A busty wall-like logo of the film with the Telugu letters "Shi" and "Va" symmetrically attached in vermillon red color and a hand-fisted cycle chain piercing the letters sounded like a promising film. The backdrop was black. And no one was highlighted in the poster. You only find four names - Ram Gopal Varma, Venkat Akkineni, Yarlagadda Surendra and of course, Ilayaraja. It was too tempting to go to college that day. So a bunch of all of us - old friends - bunked college and decided to do what is a safe bet those days - Morning Show - at Devi70mm. Someone got the tickets easily - the last thing you ever heard relating to this film. After the release and the talk from matinee show, tickets were near impossible in almost ever single-screen theatre those days even in places like Bengaluru and Chennai. We knew when we watched the opening scene of JD smoking fumes on the face of a lecturer that there is a blockbuster in the making. And then the tempo built frame after frame after frame. In 142 minutes of taut screenplay, stylish presentation and crisp dialogues embellished by Ilayaraja's never-before soundtrack and songs - RGV has arrived. The film's greatest achievement is that it has redefined the film grammar for an entire generation of Tollywood audience that will set the agenda for the next 25 years. In my view, despite the glorification of violence in the film which is the only unfortunate byeproduct of the blockbuster, most film-makers follow the pattern of "Shiva". It had such a gargantuan impact.
I remember we were stunned into silence after watching the film till interval time and then right till the end. We were ecstatic and thrilled to watch something our minds were not used to processing on screen. Like someone once said about "Sholay". It seems there was one exhibitor in Mumbai who told Ramesh Sippy that "Sholay" will be the biggest blockbuster because when the interval curtains were down, nobody from one of the theatre halls moved from their seats - because they were thrilled to see the film and they can't wait for the next scene after interval. A similar experience greeted everybody who watched the film "Shiva" in 1989. On that day, after the morning show, I somehow felt my family also had to watch the film - so I struggled for balcony seats for the second show and took my parents and brothers to the film. They were equally thrilled to bits by the unique presentation and punctuation of the film.
The film ran for 155 days in Devi and more in many theatres in AP and outside. It collected almost Rs.7crores in those days with all the runs across India. If you translate it in today's terms inflation-adjusted to current factors, it works out to Rs.44.50 crores. A mighty figure because the population must have been half of what it is today. The film had freshness, energy, intensity and spine that was rarely seen in Telugu films of that era. To Nagarjuna's luck, most of his films before "Shiva" except "Gitanjali" had the same mugshot appeal. "Shiva" made him a youthful superstar. And he never looked back. For Ramu, "Shiva" will remain a much-studied classic because he made the film on a bootstrapping budget and delivered a modern classic for the ages that will be referred to, again and again. The crew who celebrated "Shiva"@25 recently at Annapurna Studios rightly said that there were more than a handful who became directors after working under Ramu. Krishna Vamshi, Rasool Ellor, Teja, Puri Jagannadh,, S Gopal Reddy, Gunasekhar, Siva Nageswar Rao, etc. all have become independent directors from the RGV school of less melodrama, higher intensity and epic intensity that scales up from buildup.
The film's background score by Ilayaraja must make it one of the best soundtracks of all time from anywhere in the world. All those rhythms of drums beating up in rapid succession with a fear-mongering effect whenever Nag's friend is chased and killed will haunt you. Then there is that melodious refrain that defines the romance between Amala and Nagarjuna that has entered Ilayaraja's "Hall of Fame" soundtracks available on I-tunes. The tune is so burnt in our minds that one of the antagonists of the film JD Chekravarthi used the tune as a BGM in one of his sensational films released as a no-title film which later was renamed as "Paape Naa Praanam". The songs in "Shiva" also played an anchor role in getting the youth repeat viewing in droves. "Anando Brahma" and "Kiss Me Wrong Number" are my personal favorites. Amala looks ravishingly beautiful in the songs and little wonder, sparks flew between her and Nag from the start of this film to the remake of the film in Hindi - a courtship that ended only with "Antham" another RGV starrer that actually bombed. Years later, RGV was asked why he never worked with Ilayaraja again in his career (until "Shiva 2006" a reprise of the original in police uniform). RGV said the intensity of Ilayaraja's music and his interpretation of the scene was so unique and unparalleled that RGV simply couldn't come up with a script as equal in magnitude to merit Ilayaraja's output. Of course, Sitarama Sastry the lyricist had his presence noted in some of the best modern lyrics that connected with the audience.
The film turned out to be Tollywood's answer to ManiiRatnam because Mani was upping the ante in those times with hit after hit. Later, buoyed by the success of Ramu, Mani sought his collaboration for one film - "Donga Donga" ("Thiruda Thiruda" in Tamil). "Shiva" was dubbed in Tamil as "Udayam" which ran successfully. Only, because of alleged lukewarm response to the song "Sarasaalu Chaalu Sreevaaru..", the distributors deleted the son in Tamil version. That song was actually directed by noted director Vamsee and won applause for a creative kitchen song full of sounds created from shining utensils and homely love-scenes.
"Shiva" definitely was an epic in Tollywood that had its unintended consequences - unleashing violence on a scale the world has never seen before in Telugu films. Of course, besides the mythologicals, only one movie directed by T.Krishna depicted violence so grotesquely before - "Pratighatana". In that film, Vijayashanti uses an Axe to behead Charanraj in the climax. That was in 1987. But in "Shiva", RGV has made ordinary instruments into weapons of mass destruction - cycle chain, compass divider, gold chain, mini-pick-axe and so on. In most Tollywood films before, you only hear gunshots from silly pistols and sten guns. But in "Shiva" what you commute with and play with have become murder-instruments that even flight attendants must take note of. I wrote about this in a letter to the Indian Express after waiting for nearly 100 days of the film being released because I wanted Nag and RGV to celebrate 100 days of run. It was too late! (sic). "Shiva" already entered our society's consciousness.
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