Siva (1989 Telugu film)

Siva
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ram Gopal Varma
Written by	Ram Gopal Varma Tanikella Bharani (dialogues)
Produced by	Akkineni Venkat Yarlagadda Surendra
Starring	Nagarjuna Amala Raghuvaran
Cinematography	S. Gopala Reddy
Edited by	Sattibabu
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production companies	Annapurna Studios SS Creations
Release date	5 October 1989 (1989-10-05)
Running time	145 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Siva (also spelt Shiva) is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language crime action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and produced by Akkineni Venkat and Yarlagadda Surendra under Annapurna Studios and SS Creations. The film, which marks the directorial debut of Ram Gopal Varma, explores the concepts of student exploitation by anti-social elements and the impact of crowd psychology.

Varma's script was based on his experiences as a student at Siddhartha Engineering College in Vijayawada. Tanikella Bharani wrote the dialogues. Ilaiyaraaja composed the soundtrack and score, while S. Gopala Reddy was its cinematographer. Thota Tharani and Sattibabu were the art director and editor respectively. The principal photography began on 16 February 1989, and was completed in 55 working days. Except for three days of shooting in Madras (now Chennai), Siva was filmed in Andhra Pradesh.

Produced on a budget of ₹75 lakh, Siva was released on 5 October 1989 to critical acclaim, primarily for its technology and sound design. Although Venkat and Surendra expected the film to have average earnings, the film was commercially successful and went on to become the highest-grossing film of Telugu cinema. Siva completed a 100-day run in 22 centres and a 175-day run in five centres. It was featured in the Indian Panorama mainstream section of the 13th IFFI, held on 19 January 1990. In addition to the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu, Siva won three Nandi Awards: Best Director (Varma), Best First Film of a Director, and Best Dialogue Writer (Bharani). A documentary titled Exploring Shiva after 25 Years was released on the film's silver anniversary and it was the first documentary about a Telugu film.

Siva attained cult status and was considered as Nagarjuna's breakthrough film. It was credited with the introduction of steadicam and new sound recording techniques in Telugu cinema, encouraging filmmakers to explore a variety of themes and make experimental films. For the April 2013 centennial of Indian cinema, News18 included Siva on its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time. The Tamil-dubbed version Udhayam was also successful. Varma remade the film in Hindi with the same name with Nagarjuna and Amala reprising their roles and performed well at the box office.