Shiva
Promotional Poster
Directed by	Ram Gopal Varma
Written by	Ram Gopal Varma Iqbal Durrani (dialogues)
Based on	Siva (Telugu) by Ram Gopal Varma
Produced by	Akkineni Venkat Yarlagadda Surendra
Starring	Nagarjuna Amala Raghuvaran J. D. Chakravarthy
Cinematography	S. Gopal Reddy
Edited by	Shankar
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production companies	Annapurna Studios S. S. Creations
Release date	7 December 1990 (1990-12-07)
Running time	161 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Shiva is a 1990 Indian Hindi-language action drama film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. It was a remake of Varma's debut Telugu film, Siva (1989). The film has Nagarjuna (in his Hindi debut) and Amala in lead roles with Raghuvaran and J. D. Chakravarthy as the antagonists. All four actors reprise their roles from the original Telugu film. The film became a blockbuster.^[1][2] The success led to Ram Gopal Varma directing a prequel in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

The film opens in a classroom in a (fictional) VAS College of Arts & Sciences. After the classes, upon the directions of a college student, JD, a bunch of goons led by Ganesh savagely assaults a group of students right outside the college gate. It's later made clear that JD was settling some campus scores and that the incident resulted in at least one student leaving the college, deepening the fear for JD on the campus.

It turns out that JD is the (unopposed) president of the college students' union and the leader of a notorious campus gang, powerful enough to prevent the college principal from taking disciplinary actions against their unsavory conduct, which includes eve-teasing and insulting professors. JD's connections, through Ganesh, reach a gangster named Bhavani Chaudhury, whose criminal network lends muscle to a local politician, Tilak Dhari.

Shiva is a new student at college. He joins a small group of friends, including Prakash and Asha. Shiva's confident gait and tough attitude led to JD locking horns with him. An inevitable fight ensues, in which Shiva and friends beat up JD's gang in broad daylight within the campus. Emboldened by the incident, Shiva's friends plan to fight the students' union elections. Shiva proposes the nerdy friend Naresh to stand for the presidency. He also rebuffs Ganesh's initial warning to stay out of politics.

When Ganesh attempts to use force, Shiva beats him back too. The matter comes before Bhavani. Bhavani is mildly annoyed, but he studies Shiva as a potential replacement for JD. At his behest, Naresh is assaulted and rendered unable to run. At this point, Shiva accepts the nomination and decides to run.

Meanwhile, Bhavani has other troubles. He refuses to side with the worker's union leader, Krishna Rao. Krishna Rao takes his plight to Shiva; Shiva agrees to help in return for muscle, and Rao provides this by calling upon the workers. Around this time, Asha expresses a romantic interest in Shiva. The friendship progresses, and they eventually marry.

The stage is now set. Bhavani launches a set of sniper attacks on those close to Shiva. Shiva retaliates in kind and takes out many of Bhavani's leaders. Tilak Dhari notices that Shiva is launching a fitting response to Bhavani and decides to stop supporting him. Angered, humiliated, and defeated, Bhavani strikes Shiva's home and finds Asha. When he learns that Ganesh has already been presented in court and an arrest warrant has been issued for him, Bhavani kills Asha and Tilakdhari for betrayal and leaves.

A final fight ensues in which eventually Shiva manages to kill Bhavani, ridding the city of one of its most terrifying anti-social elements, while personally coming to terms with the fact that he has lost almost everything in the bargain.

The college campus depicted in the film was shot at State Agricultural University in Hyderabad.^{[citation needed]}

Music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

• Shiva at IMDb
• Documentary on Shiva