Siva was released in 1989, being RGV’s directorial debut and Nagarjuna’s breakthrough. This movie was special in numerous elements- first being the story. The 80s were all about rom-coms, family stories and stories filled with sentiments. But this movie stood out from them, because the plot revolves around a bunch of college friends seeking revenge from an opposing member with bad political support. This was always there in reality, but no one bought it on the screen until RGV did. The story was an adaption of Bruce Lee’s Way of Dragon and also from Ram Gopal Varma’s personal experiences in Siddhartha College of Engineering, Vijayawada. The music was composed by Ilayaraja, though he nailed his 80s in all languages, his music in this movie was as fresh as the movie. Specially the song Jagada Jagadam and Botany classu, were most catchy, as they were relatable to every college-going student. The dialogues were by Tanikella Bharani, as he is known for his use of language according to situations, he made sure that the dialogues were more native Vijayawada slang with a touch of modern era. Specially the dialogue by Amala saying “picture chalte kya” and the Telangana-slang version of Ramayana by Uttej are still spoken about. The cinematography was by S. Gopala Reddy. His approach was comparatively different from all the later films, because Varma wanted the movie to be a fresh breeze, amid the mainstream films. He introduced the use of Steadicam and other sounding techniques, urging the use of modern techniques would make more experimental movies. The best scene was the cycle chain scene by Nagarjuna which was one of the cult things in 90s. Also the intro scene of villain Raghuvaran as Bhavani, where he kills his own follower Viswanadham brutally and says the dialogue “ eppudu over confidence undakudadu” is another iconic scene of the movie. The ending of the movie is known to be the most different and difficult, the hero doesn’t kill the villain, but leaves more scared than ever, and its one of the marvellous endings. Many other actors tried recreating these scenes, but no one could do it as good as these actors and handled camera like Gopala Reddy. The costumes used in the movie were also most different and influenced the audience to look for them in market. This movie, was a huge cult success, because of its use of new techniques in filming and bringing in the new style for the audience to expect.
