Siva (1989 Telugu film)

After he graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Siddhartha Engineering College in Vijayawada, Ram Gopal Varma opened a video-rental shop in Ameerpet. Noting his son's interest in films, Penmatsa Krishnamraju (a former sound recordist for Annapurna Studios) helped Varma join the teams of Collector Gari Abbai (1987) and Rao Gari Illu (1988) as an assistant director.[2] Varma befriended actor Nagarjuna, and filmmakers Akkineni Venkat and Yarlagadda Surendra. He presented his script for Raathri to them. When Nagarjuna rejected it, Varma presented another script based on his life as a student in Vijayawada.[2][3] He earlier narrated this script to filmmaker K. Raghavendra Rao who suggested few changes because of its serious tone. Varma watched Rao's Kaliyuga Pandavulu (1986) and backed out after understanding Rao's point of view.[4]

When Rao Gari Illu was nearly completed, Varma asked co-director Siva Nageswara Rao to join him. He approached Tanikella Bharani to write the dialogues after observing his work in Ladies Tailor (1985) and Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe (1987). Bharani found the plot (as described by Varma) similar to those of K. S. R. Das' films. Varma rejected Bharani's comic version, and asked to rewrite it as a crime drama. Although Bharani's usual fee was ₹25,000, he received ₹35,000 for Siva.[3] Gunasekhar and Teja, who later pursued career as filmmakers, joined the film's crew as assistant directors.[5]

Venkat and Surendra produced Siva under their banners of Annapurna Studios and SS Creations, respectively. The production began in February 1989.[6] Varma wanted M. M. Keeravani to compose the film's soundtrack and score, since Keeravani had assisted K. Chakravarthy on Rao Gari Illu. As both were inexperienced, Keeravani suggested that Varma choose a more seasoned technician and Ilaiyaraaja was signed instead.[3] S. Gopala Reddy, Thota Tharani and Sattibabu were the film's director of photography, art director and editor, respectively.[7] Gopala Reddy was inspired by Gordon Willis' work in the crime film, The Godfather (1972).[8]

Siva is Nagarjuna's 17th film as an actor.[9] Varma found him the only actor who could understand his perspective.[10] Nagarjuna and Varma had discussed astronomy and realised that they shared similar sensibilities. That, and Varma's passion for and dedication to films, prompted Nagarjuna to work with him.[10] Amala, who worked with Nagarjuna in Prema Yuddham (1990), was chosen as the female lead.[3] Siva was the first film in her career where the script was explained shot by shot.[10] When Varma approached Rohini to dub Amala's portions, she agreed to dub for Amala only after watching about three reels of footage.[11][12]

Varma chose Raghuvaran to play the local crime boss, Bhavani. Varma wanted him to underplay the character, which was based on real life. Before accepting the role, Raghuvaran studied the mannerisms and lifestyles of mob leaders and criminals in Mumbai for 20 days.[3][12] Varma wanted to name the characters played by Nagarjuna and Raghuvaran as Bhavani and Siva respectively. At Nagarjuna's request, he reversed the names.[13][14] Varma chose newcomers Chakravarthy, Jithendra, and Ramjagan to play J. D., Chinna, and Naresh after auditioning them at Annapurna Studios.[3] Uttej, one of Varma's assistant directors, played a comic role of a server in the college canteen. He recommended Varma to cast Sushma for Keerthi's role.[5]

P. Sai Kumar was initially supposed to play J. D., but the role went to Chakravarthy.[15] Varma met the latter on the film's sets and asked him to perform a scene of his choice. Despite an unsuccessful screen test, Varma selected Chakravarthy after a meeting on the next day after observing the depth in his expression.[16] Seasoned actors such as Murali Mohan, Gollapudi Maruti Rao, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Subhalekha Sudhakar, and Saichand played supporting roles.[3] Bharani agreed to play Bhavani's assistant, Nanaji, at Varma's insistence.[3] Producer Akkineni Venkat made a cameo appearance as one of Bhavani's clients, and Siva Nageswara Rao dubbed his portion.[17] Brahmaji was cast as Bhavani's henchman.[10]

Varma read about steadicam in American Cinematographer, and enquired about the possibility of a similar camera in India.[18] After learning that steadicam was available in Chennai for four years and was already obsolete, Varma decided to use it despite Gopala Reddy's apprehension.[14] Varma chose Rasool Ellore over Rajiv Menon and Deenpal to assist Gopala Reddy with the steadicam.[6] Principal photography began on 16 February 1989, and wrapped in 55 working days. Except for three days in Chennai, the film was shot in Andhra Pradesh.[6]

The scenes of the protagonist's college life were filmed at Keyes High school, near Secunderabad Junction railway station. A school wall was demolished, and a gate was repaired for the film's opening scene.[6] Raghuvaran was carried away during the shoot of few action sequences and slapped Brahmaji for nearly six times in a row. To avoid such issues in the case of murder scenes, Varma decided to complete a few of them by using plain close-ups of the victims.[5]

Sudhakar's murder scene was filmed near Keesara in Ranga Reddy district.[6] Gopala Reddy and Ellore placed a camera in a bag and ran behind him for a shaky effect.[10] In the cycle-chain scene in which Siva uses a cycle chain to fight with J. D., the hand pulling the chain was Ellore's; in the next shot, Nagarjuna is shown holding the chain.[12] The scene in which Naresh is killed near his home was filmed in the streets of Vengala Rao Nagar. The cycle chase scenes were filmed in Somajiguda and the slums behind Yashoda Hospitals. The bus chase scene was shot in Yusufguda.[6] The film's climax was filmed at the Swapnalok complex in Secunderabad, and Bhavani's suicide was filmed on a set at Venus Studios in Chennai.[6]

Several romantic scenes with Nagarjuna and Amala were initially filmed at Ushakiron Movies in Secunderabad. Dissatisfied with the results, Varma reshot them at the Osman Ali House.[6] Mugur Sundar choreographed the songs,[7] and "Anando Brahma" was filmed at the Borra Caves in Visakhapatnam. The film crew had to crawl into the caves, making Siva the first Telugu film shot in its interiors.[12] The remaining songs were filmed on sets at Annapurna Studios.[6] Srinivasa Rao filmed his scenes in one day.[19] The fights, choreographed by Varma, featured hand-to-hand combat and attacks with hooks as he was trained in kickboxing.[14]

In September 2014, Siva was digitally remastered for theatrical release. Supriya Yarlagadda of Annapurna Studios said that the decision to remaster and digitise was made after observing the challenges in storing and preserving old film prints. The process (carried out in Mumbai) took a year, and the film's colour and sound quality were enhanced to meet current standards.[44] A silver jubilee event was held on 7 October 2014 in Hyderabad, where Nagarjuna announced that Siva's digitised version would be released on 17 October 2014 on nearly 100 screens.[45] In April 2015, Varma told Indo-Asian News Service that the digitised release was postponed until 15 May because of restoration delays.[46]

During the digitisation of Shiva, Varma said that he would release a documentary on the making of the film entitled Exploring Shiva after 25 Years. The first documentary based on a Telugu film, it provided a "holistic view of the film"[44] and featured interviews with the cast and crew and segments on its sound and filming locations.[47] The documentary was released on 5 October 2014, coinciding with Siva's silver anniversary.[48]

Siva, which attained cult status in Telugu cinema, is one of the first Telugu films produced after the migration of Telugu film industry from Madras to Hyderabad to feature characters speaking the Telangana dialect.[49][50] The film made Nagarjuna a superstar in Telugu cinema; it changed his career,[9] and earned him a reputation for encouraging new directors.[34] Nagarjuna considered Siva a milestone in his personal life as well since he and Amala, who were in a relationship during the film's shoot, decided to marry after its completion.[5]

According to filmmaker V. V. Vinayak and writer Pulagam Chinnarayana, Siva divided Telugu cinema into two eras: before and after the film.[5][20] With Siva, Varma was credited with the introduction of steadicams and new sound recording techniques in Telugu films.[14][51] Within a year of the film's release, more than ten steadicams were imported into India.[18] Siva attracted the young audience during its theatrical run, and its success encouraged filmmakers to explore a variety of themes and make experimental Telugu films.[20][52]

Bharani broke through as an actor and dialogue writer with the film.[53][54] Chakravarthy, Jithendra and Ramjagan achieved success with Siva, and the former two adapted J. D. and Chinna as screen names.[12] Kannada actor and filmmaker Upendra reworked the narrative of Om (1995) when he found the previous version similar to Siva.[55] Telugu filmmaker S. S. Rajamouli understood the importance of heightening tension in action sequences, and the impact created by proper use of sound after watching Siva.[5] Srinu Vaitla, Sudheer Varma, and Praveen Sri were inspired by Siva to pursue careers as directors; Sri assisted Ram Gopal Varma before he made his directorial debut with Gaayam 2 (2010).[56][57][58] Music director Munna Kasi was inspired by Ilaiyaraaja's work in Siva, and wanted to work with Varma after he graduated.[59] On the rise of antisocial-element-based scripts in Tamil cinema, trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai said in May 2002 that Siva's Tamil-dubbed version (Udhayam) was the "forerunner" of city-based crime films.[60]

Tamil actor Ganesh Venkatraman was "mesmerised" as a child by Siva, admiring Nagarjuna and carrying a cycle chain in his schoolbag.[61] About the impact of Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) on Indian cinema, Rana Daggubati said that regional films can gain national acceptance for their content and cited the success of Siva and Roja (1992) as examples.[62][63] In March 2016, Karthi said that he admired Nagarjuna after seeing Udhayam its Tamil dubbed version and Idhayathai Thirudathe (1989) and found working with him in Oopiri (2016) "a great chance to know him."[64]

The cycle-chain scene became popular, with people telling Varma that they broke a cycle chain after seeing Siva; the director called them the "ultimate example of how imagination can take over and become a reality in time".[14] As of 2014, the chain used in the film is owned by Chakravarthy.[10] Film-poster designers Anil and Bhanu said that posters should be designed to make a subconscious impact on the viewer, citing the title logo of Siva (with Nagarjuna and the cycle chain) as an example.[65] Inspired by Varma's work in Siva, Rajamouli composed the action sequence during the intermission of his directorial debut Student No. 1 (2002), and followed the shot division of the cycle-chain scene for the same.[5]

Chakravarthy agreed to play the antagonist in Naga Chaitanya's acting debut, Josh (2009), and said that its makers are "trying to get JD of Shiva who actually ran away mid way from college".[66] Bangalore Mirror and other reviewers noted similarities between Josh and Siva, which Chaitanya called a "coincidence".[67][68] Chaitanya's films, Bezawada (2011)—produced by Varma—and Autonagar Surya (2014), were noted for similarities to Siva.[69][70][71] Siva was parodied in several films such as Lakshmi (2006),[72] Oosaravelli (2011),[73] Katha Screenplay Darsakatvam Appalaraju (2011) (also directed by Varma),[74] and Sudigadu (2012).[75]

Amala listed Siva with Pushpaka Vimana (1987), Vedham Pudhithu (1987), Agni Natchathiram (1988), and Karpoora Mullai (1991) as her most memorable films.[76] Geethika Chandrahasan Sudip of The Hindu listed Siva for the letter S in the July 2015 "ABCD of Telugu cinema".[77] In August 2015, Pooja Darade of The Times of India included the film on her list of "Telugu movies one must watch before dying".[33] Fahad Usmani of The Hindu compared Siva to Mother India (1957), Sholay (1975), Mr. India (1987), Agneepath (1990), and Ghayal (1990), noting that their antagonists became more popular than their heroes.[78]