Shiva 2006 Movie Reviews

Though 'Siva 2006' is said to be a sequel or for that matter a novel version of Ramgopal Varma's debut flick 'Siva' (released some 17 years ago) will in no way could be compared with the old film. Especially the latest flick has no script to talk about and as Ram rightly said sometime ago he changed the hero's costumes from a student to a tough police officer. However, the way the director cum producer waged a war against the corrupt police officials and politicians is worth mentioning. He rightly portrayed how the corrupt police officials support the mafia and underworld dons and at the same time how the politicians support the thugs for their petty political gains.

Shiva Kumar (Mohit Ahlawat) gets appointment as sub-inspector. The day he goes to meet the commissioner Srikanth, he finds that there is a big nexus between the police and underworld thugs. However, his colleagues tell him to be cool and their job is just to follow the orders of the superiors. Once he meets a crime reporter Sandhya (Nisha Kothari) of DNA. She is also a committed journalist. Sandhya gets attracted towards Shiva because of his honesty and uprightness.

Shiva comes to know that a gangster-turned-politician Bapu (Upendra Limaye) is behind the local mafia. One of his henchmen John once teases Sandhya and Shiva bashes him severely. Shiva also warns Bapu once. In a bid to clear Shiva, Bapu summons a notorious killer Kutney from Malaysia. But Shiva mends him and makes him to reveal all the names behind his attempt to kill Shiva. So the case against Bapu strengthens, forcing the latter to go underground.

Home minister Sadanand (Dilip Prabhawalkar) calls Shiva and tells him that he alone can't change the society in general and threatens him that he could be transferred with a mere signature. Sadanand even threatens that there was a danger to his girl friend as well. In a bid to save her, Shiva marries Sandhya. In a bid to avoid embarrassment from Bapu, Sadanand decides to kill him and brings in two hired killers (Ram-Laxman). But Shiva, tactically shifts Bapu and his gang from the custody to an unknown place. In the hide and seek game, the police department initiates a disciplinary action against Shiva, in which Sadanand is also a member.

Answering the committee, Shiva says he joined the police job to serve the society and not for mere salary or the bribes. He and four of his colleagues submit resignations and start lynching the thugs bringing down the crime rate in the city. However, Bapu's gang escapes from the hide-out of Shiva by killing three out of his four friends. Bapu doesn't know that Sadanand appointed hired killers to eliminate him. While escaping, the gang kidnaps Sandhya also. While trying to save Sandhya from their hands, the two hired killers attack Shiva and Bapu. But Shiva gains upperhand and kills both the hired killers. When Shiva explains the murder plan hatched by Sadanand to Bapu, the latter turns an approver and reveals all the mafia links of Sadanand. The home minister commits suicide and the film ends on a happy note.

Mohit Ahlawat needs to improve his body language and histrionics as he could not emote the feelings in his face. Nisha Kothari filled the glamour slot and is okay. It is Dilip Prabhawalkar who bagged the honours in the role of home minister. He played his entire role in a cool manner. Upendra Limaye looked like a comedy villain. Other roles need no mention. The action scenes really elevated the heroism of Mohit in particular.

Moreover, the film is quite attractive due to the excellent taking of Ramgopal Varma. The audiences are so fascinated towards him because of the way he explains certain things on the screen with beautiful taking. Even in songs, he ensure that the camera zooms on a particular slot and it really mesmerises the audiences. Music support by Illayaraja and cinematography by Amal Neerad also proved big assets for the film. While the first half deals with the narration of the corrupt practices, the second half and especially the pre-climax scenes make the audiences sit tight to their seats. The technical values are also quite high. Though there is no novelty in the subject, the innovative way of taking will attract the audiences.

Cast: Mohit Ahlawat, Nisha Kothari, Suchitra Pillai, Shereveer Vakil, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Zakir Hussain, Raju Mavani, Nagesh Bhosle, Pankaj Jha, Upendra Limaye, Vinod Jaywant, Ganesh Mayekar, Dinesh Lamba, Ranveer Shorey, Ninad Kamat and others.

Credits : Dialogues €“ Kona Venkat, Lyrics €“ Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Music €“ Illayaraja, Cinematography €“ Amal Neerad, Editing €“ Amit Parmar, Nipun Gupta, Action €“ Ram-Lakshman, Presents €“ Ad Labs, Producer, director €“ Ram Gopal Varma.

Baner : RGV Film Company