Last year Ram Gopal Varma produced a action film titled JAMES which marked the debut of his new “golden boy” Mohit Ahlawat(who he claimed has the potential to be the next Amitabh Bachchan). The intention of the movie was to be a throwback to the “angry young man versus the system” action movies from ZANJEER to GHAYAL. However upon its release it turned out to be more... ... of a comic-book action film without much purpose and failed miserably at the boxoffice.
After its failure Ram Gopal Varma launched SHIVA, in the media this was touted to be a remake of JAMES initially, and later he said this was a remake of his own SHIVA. He was adamant to launch Mohit Ahlawat again and even took on the responsibility of directional responsibilities himself-so does SHIVA live up to expectations? No….infact this goes down on record as Ram Gopal Varmas worst film to date.
The story? Well it’s definitely not the same as SHIVA or JAMES for that matter. The movie revolves around a young cop called Shiva(Mohit Ahlawat) who newly joins the Mumbai Police force. It is evident to Shiva from day one that the entire department is corrupt and that his ideals and values clash with the harsh realities of his job. Shiva is one who cannot stand crime and corruption and if he sees anything of that nature he bashes the living hell out of the wrong doers.
Shiva makes arch enemies with Bappu(Upendra Limaye) a gangster turned politician who has a firm grip of terror across the city. His peer officers (Raju Mavani and Zakir Hussain) turns a blind eye to Bappus activities. Shiva goes against his peers, and after a series of incidents he decides to arrest Bappu. Shiva then finds out that the home minister(Dillip Prabhavaklar) too is corrupt. A enquiry commission is placed on Shiva and at the commission he hands in his resignation. End of story? No! Shiva and his team of friends(also resigned Policemen) form their own gang of vigilantes and start a fight against the corruption of the system this begins the age old fight between good and evil.
Writers Farhad-Sajid pack the movie with almost every cliché in the book. There are scenes ripped off from countless movies from SHIVA(original), SATYA, AB TAK CHAPPAN, SHOOL, ARJUN, GHAYAL etc and it is no doubt their intention is NOT to write something new, but to delivery a mish-mash of action films from the past. However if that is the case, the screenplay should be tightly written with new twists and turns..sadly that is not the case either. The screenplay is seriously a very shoddy piece of work. Extremely predictable from start to finish the movie does not offer anything new and the sequence of events from start to finish have a deja-vu feeling that bores the viewer. There was a opportunity here to add something new and innovative to a old theme however that is completely avoided. No doubt Ram Gopal Varmas writing team had really declined in quality of late. What happened to Anurag Kashyap? Jaideep Sahini. Heck even Manish Gupta was better than these two writers…..time to recruit some REAL talent again Mr. Varma.
As a director this is Ram Gopal Varma at his MOST laziest! Infact there were times I wondered whether Varma was a absentee director? The movie feels like a rushed product from start to finish, and what’s worse is that there is no signs of the master storyteller from films like SATYA and COMPANY. His treatment of the story is so downright boring that it is hard to believe that it is Varma himself at helm. There are a few scenes which are well executed, yet even these are too few and far in between. The story just moves too fast for the audience and it fails to connect with the viewer from the start. There is no connection with the viewer and Varmas “hero” Shiva nor are the villains here any fun to watch as they are nothing more than weak imitations of the great villains that Varma created in past movies. The disconnect with the viewer is the films greatest flaw. Varma in a sense relies too much on clichés/movies of the past to do the work for him. Take for example his relationship with his brother/bhabhi..nothing there is properly developed at all. Even the relationship between Shiva and his Sandhya(Nisha Kothari) comes across half baked. Whats crucial for a film like this is to establish a real sense of frustration in the films hero and to portray a real CLASH between the hero and the villan. However Shiva never seems frustrated…cool as a cucumber he will bash the crap out of anyone who annoys him at the click of a finger and come out unscathed. Infact, he is so calm it is like he knows he is going to win the fight hence there is no sense of struggle with his character. Also the clash between him and the villains is really poorly developed. His initial fight with is good as is his scenes with his peers, however more scenes were needed to portray the clash(ala SHOOL and GANGAJAAL), after a while it starts becoming blurry who Shivas enemy is and what his purpose is? There are a few scenes of gore like the starting scene where a nail is hammered into a mans head in broad day light while a police officer stands on and watches(heavily promoted), a mans ear getting sliced off etc but these scenes seem like they are there for “shock” value rather than having any relevance to the story. Without sounding too harsh as Ram Gopal Varma is one of my favourite directors….this movie feels like a cup n paste job from other films and it is about time Mr. Varma had a SERIOUS rethink about what kinds of films he wants to make. His intention was to re-launch Mohit and make JAMES “correctly”..however JAMES was a much better product than SHIVA(nuff said). Either Mr. Varma completed this movie in record time and rushed it, or he simply drafted the movie to one of his spot boys or chaiwalas and wasn’t present at all. Lets hope there is some redemption with SHOLAY and NISHABD.
In terms of performances the movie is a disappointment.
Mohit Ahlawat in the title role again after JAMES is OK. The boy does have a brooding screen presence and plays the silent crusader type(a RGV trait). He looks the part he plays and excels in action sequences however he needs to work on his delivery still as he comes across wooden at times. Ahlawat left more of an impact with JAMES than he does with SHIVA!
Nisha Kothari too is just average. Her delivery here is plain bad and she just doesn’t look like a news reporter. In terms of looks the little thing is looking plain sexy sporting glasses and corporate looking outfits:-)
Sherevil Vakil who had his debut in JAMES, gives in another good villainous act here and has really expressive eyes. Upendra Limaye is loud at times, but he too gives a decent account of himself. Dillip Prabhavalkar excels as the malicious politician however after a Award Worthy stint in LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI, he deserves much more. Zakir Hussain is royally wasted. One wishes that Ram Gopal Varma would NOT cast such talented actors that he himself introduces to the industry in such inspid roles. Raju Mavani is apt in his part. Ninad Kamat overacts and is really annoying. Ranvir Shorey and Suchitra Pillay get minimal scope and fail to leave a mark due to poor characterisation.
Illaiyarajas music is a letdown except the films theme track. Given Ram Gopal Varma stance against songs in his movies unless they prove some purposes and the fact he has been a pioneer of sorts with his songless films like KAUN and BHOOT it comes as a surprise that Varma has included songs here in the most dull manner. The theme track conveys the theme of the movie nicely and packs a punch. The “CHOR CHOR POLICE POLICE” number is OK. However it’s the romantic songs between Mohit and Nisha which act a speed breaker. The songs serve no purpose at all and they are placed at the most inappropriate times(though Nisha looks SEXY as pulling a Urmila).
Technically the film is good. The camerawork by Amal Neerad is in perfect sync with other RGV film with its sepia toned shots(now a trademark of sorts). The editing is well done by Amit Parmar and Nipun Gupta and the movie has a definite slick look to it throughout. Ram Laxmans action scenes are well packed, and the movie features the “fist to face” type action sequences which Mohit carries off well although some of the scenes are rather violent at times without purpose.
All up without beating around the bush…SHIVA is a poor product. The movie HAD potential to recreate the magic of a genre (which was Varmas aim) however this is the work of a director who is clearly NOT present(either in person or in state of mind)….Mr. Varma…you still have fans out there who swear by you…so please don’t disappointment them like this again.
Final Rating: * ¾
