The 1989 Telugu-language action film, Shiva, is celebrated as a landmark motion picture that fundamentally changed the landscape of Telugu cinema. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma in his feature-film debut, the movie proved to be a massive breakthrough for both Varma and its lead actor, Akkineni Nagarjuna.
The Story, Legacy and Action
All the actors in Shiva include Nagarjuna as Shiva, Amala as Aasha, Tanukella Bharani as follower of villian, Chinna as student, J D Chakravarthy as JD, Murali Mohan as College principal and Raghuvaran as Bhavani.Campus politics, leading to a subsequent rise in violence fueled by rival student parties and local gangsters. The film’s impact was immediate and enduring, earning it cult classic status.
Praised for its Realistic Portrayal
The movie was groundbreaking for its realistic depiction of student politics and campus violence. Its action sequences were considered novel and redefined the genre in Telugu cinema. Varma stated that the basic concept was inspired by Bruce Lee’s The Way of the Dragon, where he replaced the restaurant setting with a college campus. The narrative also drew inspiration from real-life incidents that occurred in Vijayawada between 1975 and 1986.
Varma’s Rising Graph
The success of Shiva launched Ram Gopal Varma’s career onto a steep upward trajectory. Following his debut, he directed numerous celebrated films across Telugu and Hindi cinema, establishing himself as a prominent filmmaker. His notable Hindi works include. Rangeela, Daud, Satya, Mast, Jungle, Company,Bhoot, Ek Hasina, Sarkar, Nishabd.  While the 1989 original remains the most famous, Varma also directed a Hindi remake in 1990 and a different Hindi film with the same title in 2006.
Digital Restoration and Re-release
November 14, 2025 Commemorating the film’s enduring legacy, Shiva underwent a digital restoration and was re-released in theaters on November 14, 2025. This new version features. Visuals -Dolby Atmos Sound: AI tools used for audio cleaning and recreation in the release. The re-release generated significant buzz, with actor Nagarjuna and director Ram Gopal Varma reuniting to launch the trailer. Interestingly, the newly restored version drew large audiences, including a strong interest from the present generation of teenagers.
Principle Correspondent, Prime Post
Vidya Sagar Chaturvedula is a passionate film enthusiast whose four-decade career spans multiple sectors, including media and industry. Fluent in Telugu, Hindi, and English, he has a deep appreciation for cinema, particularly films in those three languages. His passion goes beyond simple viewing; he enjoys analyzing directional skill, the emotional depth of actors’ performances, and the profound meaning embedded in dialogue. Mr. Sagar is known for his ability to clearly articulate and narrate his insightful film analyses after watching a movie.
It’s a film picturised on college politics nicely. It’s a debut film for Ram Gopal Varma as a director. Did excellent job. And for Nagarjuna Akkineni established himself as a super star. And the music composed by Ilaya Raja for the film is super hit. By all means ‘Shiv film changed the trend in Hollywood Film Industry.
Ram gopal Verma s action packed
Love story
All the leading role s played by actors success fully seen the Move to the full height s mostly college politics
Raghuveer acting as villian and Nagarjuna Amla worked hard dialogues fights are high light.
Shiva is a beautiful story of our times . It is a realistic college backdrop story of the 80s .
We thouroughly enjoyed the movie at that time.
Ramgopal Varma director of the film created miracles.
Photography is next gen.
Actors are just suitable to their roles.
Small n supporting actors like Tanikella Bharani etc are excellent.
Amala is a dream girl to the youth
Songs are excellent.
Making of the film, photography, starring and finally story is a ben chmark.
Its very realistic to 80s college students in paticularly Vijayawada student politics.
Siva an all time time hit. Th rf picture directed by RGV portrayed the atmosphere in colleges those days. Students lacking seriousness towards their career and involving iln serous offences causing worries to their parents. Songs are super hits. Movie is a success.
It is important not to disturb any easygoing person and assume he is sheepish or dumb. The underlying volcano can erupt if angered.
The serious academic student takes on the gangsters to remove the disturbance in his romantic and personal life.
Given the motivation no gangs or violence can stop the force of truth and righteousness till lasting peace is achieved.
‘Keep politics away from studies’ is one of the slogans meant to be . How a peaceful environment is impaired drastically to violence involving the students, ruining their lives. This is the gist of the story selected by RGV debutantly? and portrayed it with all the spice of music and super stars became a boxoffice hit then. Now, hoarding re-release is once again a box office hit. Really exciting to watch. Nagarjuna Amala duo really did well.
Very Well Said. Thank You.
Siva a super hit movie and one of the best movies in Nagarjuna career. Still I remember the one big cycle chain poster at Jagadamba centre in Visakhapatnam. No need of name and actors only cycle chain is enough to recognise movie name . Great movie great review
Shiva movie is Nagarjuna’s superhit movie. Botany class vundi… song was all time hit in those days. Nice review