Shiva

Director: Ram Gopal Varma

Cast: Mohit Ahlawat, Nisha Kothari, Upeyndra Limaye, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Sajid, Sherveer Shereyar Vakil, Zakir Hussain, Raju Mawani, Ranvir Sheorey, Suchitra Pillai, Dinesh Lamba

5/10

There is something wrong at RGV’s Factory and as an ardent fan of its products, I urge the boss to set things right. RGV has been a trendsetter. Shiva (the original) introduced Hindi cinema audience to a new genre of filmmaking. Armed with the ‘uncosmetic’ villains, the renegade of a hero whose sound of silence is louder than his speech, stylised cinematography (majorly handheld) and razor-edge editing, it declared the arrival of the new breed cinema — fast and furious.

Many a young filmmaker was seduced with this new genre (me, certainly one of them), the Factory fan following grew, the box-office registers rang loud and it was certain that RGV had arrived and he was here to rule.

With Shiva, Satya, Rangeela, Company, Sarkar — the boss became the matinee master and when he announced the relaunch of Shiva, expectations rocketed. (For me, this was going to be a very important film as my forthcoming film, Kranti, is dedicated to RGV and is inspired by his Shiva.) I am disappointed.

A world where the law belongs to the lawless. Bullets, swords, daggers, belts and acid are weapons used to suppress the ambitions to build a better society. A world that shows the ministers as a corrupt lot and cops, hand-in-glove with gangsters. A system infested with criminals. A lone fighter emerges to battle the evil and stands undaunted. That is the plot of our new Shiva.

RGV discoveries, Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari, were first seen in James (a Factory product). RGV introduced the two with Rohit Jugraj as director. The film came in silence and faded away in solitude. Failures cannot be in a king’s agenda. So, though wounded, he went ahead to prove his launches right and viable — RGV took over the helm of things, regrouped his strategies and made Shiva.

Mohit (Shiva), is strong, silent and much better than what he was in James (though very mechanical in the romantic scenes). Nisha (Sandhya) is below average. As always the villains are strong and visible throughout the film. Upeyndra Limaye stands apart as Bappu, the gangster turned politician.

Maestro Ilaiyaraja’s music lacks the power that a RGV film demands. Amal Neerad’s cinematography is outstanding and Laxman Brothers’ action is good.

But on the whole, Shiva is disappointing with a few scenes of gruesome violence on display. At a time when Hindi cinema is going Hollywood, Shiva’s outdated plot may jar.

As for RGV, my question is why do a photocopy of your own work when you are capable of churning out classics that have inspired us time and again? Come on Master, you know the code — be the best, beat the rest.

Ringo