Shiva
"WHEN THE SYTEM ITSELF IS INFESTED WITH CRIMINALS"
The tagline of SHIVA gives a clear cut message of what Shiva is all about. An action drama film about an honest cop who wants to use his learning in the training academy to take on the criminals with a righteous attitude, 'Shiva' brings back the 'James' pair of Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari.
Shiva [Mohit Ahlawat] is a no-nonsense cop who believes in being true to his job without comprising even by a slightest bit. There are tempting offers galore while even his own family snubs him for being 'non-adjusting', especially in today's times. Be it his brother Daksh [Ranvir Shourery] or his sister-in-law Manasi [Suchitra Pillai], everyone feels that he is being unreasonable in his attitude and behavior.
In such a scenario, the only person to truly respect his position and support him in his endeavor is a crime reporter Sandhya Joshi [Nisha Kothari]. Just like Shiva, she too is a no-nonsense professional who believes in taking sides of what is right and ridicule the wrong.
There are numerous adversities that Shiva has to face in his journey of truth and justice - local goon John [Sherveer Vakil], Minister Shirke [Dilip Prabhawalkar], gangster Bappu [Upyendra Limaye], Inspector Tavde [Raju Mavani] amongst many others.
The challenge is mighty.....the righteous are few! Will Shiva be able to do this single handedly? Will the truth prevail?
As per producer director Ram Gopal Verma himself:
"Fifteen years after my debut film Shiva, much has changed in the conditions around us, in our cinema and also in my perceptions of things.
Hence I feel compelled to return to first base, to come full circle, to retell the story in the context of the situation of the present time.
Through the various decades, people have always had great expectations from institutions like hospitals, schools and colleges and of course, the police and the judiciary. They are meant to serve the people, but do they really do that?
In my debut film Shiva, I delved into the disillusionment with our educational institutions, which often led to violence and turmoil on the campus. The film's protagonist, the title character, rebelled against those who were responsible, namely goonda elements and corrupt politicians.
The new Shiva will look into a law-keeping system through the eyes of a man who just finished training in a police academy and has freshly joined the Mumbai Police force. His ideals clash with the harsh reality of a police force at work.
Yes, cop films are overdone. I have myself made Shool and Ab Tak Chappan in this genre. But here the intention is to bring back the intense hero who ruled the 70s and 80s before he was sent into oblivion by the sugar sweet romantic films. It was that hero who actually made films larger than life, with Amitabh Bachchan leading the brigade and then in varying degrees followed by Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Mithun Chakraborthy, Sunny Deol etc.
In an attempt to reinvent that genre of films, I am reloading Shiva. I want to once again catch the spirit of one man taking on the odds when his principles and convictions are under threat. With a completely updated script and today's technical advances, I seek to capture that element of anger present in all of us. Most of us accept injustice mutely. But every once in a while a rebel comes along who hits back.
That rebel, who all of us want to be is SHIVA 2006".
'Shiva' releases all over this Friday i.e. September 15th.