Ram Gopal Varma looks back at Shiva ahead of its re-release, "Shiva represents the ideal of self-respect, to that extent he's almost Gandhian"

Ram Gopal Varma’s iconic directorial debut Shiva is all set to re-release on November 14. Starring Nagarjuna in the lead, the film was appreciated for its honest and poignant portrayal about the underworld when it had released 35 years ago in 1990. RGV looked back at Shiva in an interview with us.

Your first film Shiva is being re-released on November 14?

After 36 years, I finally understood the character of Shiva. As a 26-year-old, I wrote the character of Shiva out of instinct and now at 62, as I kept on watching it to prepare it for its re-release, I now understand it from maturity.

And what do you understand about Shiva?

Shiva is the story of a man who has immense self-respect, and his courage comes from the principles he stands for. He would rather die than bow down to threats and intimidation. To him, dignity is not a virtue… it is the hallmark of existence itself. Shiva is not loud, not emotional, and not heroic in the conventional sense. His power lies in his silence, and his silence comes from an unspoken conviction.

Shiva’s fight for justice seems relevant to this day

Shiva doesn’t fight for glory or revenge; he fights because he refuses to be trampled. His defiance is instinctive, not strategic. When he sees injustice, he reacts not with speeches, but with his stance, and, when pushed, with his fists. He has no interest in politics, gangs, or power. Yet these very forces are drawn to him because power recognizes the man who cannot be frightened.

The film echoed the Sunny Deol starrer Arjun

It was one of my inspirations for Shiva. He’s not a rebel in appearance, but in spirit. His rebellion is internal; a constant clash between his calm exterior and the storm of principles inside him. Every time he raises his hand, it’s never out of aggression, but necessity. He knows violence is destructive, but when faced with tyranny, he sees it as the only language oppressors understand. Shiva is also a man of restraint. He believes that true strength is in control, not fury. His presence unnerves bullies because he doesn’t react the way they expect. He doesn’t plead, doesn’t threaten he just looks at them with an unblinking calm.

So, in spite of the violence, Shiva actually stands for the opposite?

At his core, Shiva represents the ideal of self-respect as the highest form of power. To that extent he’s almost Gandhian. He’s not fighting for others to see him as strong; he fights so that he doesn’t see himself as weak. And that’s what makes him timeless. He’s not just a man, he’s a state of mind. The mind of someone who refuses to be corrupted by fear, compromise, or convenience. In a world where everyone bends, Shiva remains unbent. In a society driven by manipulation and submission, Shiva’s very existence becomes a revolution. At the heart of Shiva lies a paradox, a man who believes in peace but is forced to use violence to protect it.

We never saw Shiva as Gandhian before

Shiva’s courage does not come from fearlessness but from clarity. He knows what matters and what doesn’t. Fear is irrelevant to him because once he defines what’s worth living or dying for, everything else becomes irrelevant. This clarity is what separates him from both cowards and hotheads doesn’t seek confrontation; he becomes confrontation when injustice crosses his line. And that line isn’t drawn in blood or revenge but it’s drawn in principle. Shiva cannot tolerate the sight of submission. When he sees people cowering before thugs or politicians, something in him hardens not out of superiority, but because he feels it’s a betrayal of human dignity.

Nagarjuna as Shiva hardly speaks

Shiva’s silence is not emptiness — it’s his armour. He doesn’t waste words because words, to him, are promises. He speaks only when he must, and when he does, it comes with a weight. His silences make people uncomfortable because they reveal a man completely at peace with confrontation. He doesn’t raise his voice because he doesn’t need to. The world’s noise, corruption, threats, moral decay only reinforces his stillness. When others shout, he observes. When others justify, he decides. That quietness is not suppression. It’s basically power under control.

And yet there is a lot of violence in the character

For Shiva, violence is never instinctive. It’s a consequence. He doesn’t enjoy it but he doesn’t shy away from it when needed. His moral logic is clear: when reason fails, fists must speak. When authority is corrupt and systems are broken, violence becomes a form of highly effective communication, an assertion that self-respect still exists. Shiva doesn’t hate power… he hates how power is misused. He knows that every system, whether a college or a government, runs on control. But his defiance isn’t anarchic; it’s moral. He believes that power should serve dignity, not dominate it. That’s why both criminals and politicians fear him because he can’t be manipulated. You can threaten his life, but not his sense of self. And due to that, he becomes more dangerous than any weapon.

Shiva is more an ideology

He’s an ideology stemming from a belief that a single uncompromising man can shake an entire system built on compromise. He doesn’t become a hero because he wins, he becomes a hero because he refuses to lose himself. In every society, every time, every place, everyone wishes to be like Shiva but they lack the courage of Shiva, and hence they look up to him and admire him, which explains the unforgettability of the character of Shiva even after 36 years of him arriving on the screen.

You seem to have understood the character now

If instead of now, if I consciously understood it back then 36 years before, I might not have made some of my flops.

Also Read: Ram Gopal Varma praises VFX of Mirai in his detailed review; says it felt “supremely immersive”

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