It was 5 October, 1989. King Nagarjuna's 'Siva' was released without much noise. Since the movie was directed by debutante Ram Gopal Varma, nobody had that much great expectations on the movie. However, at the end of the morning shows across the state, the audiences came out of the theaters with shocking experiences, as they had never ever seen such a technical brilliance on Telugu silver screen. Ultimately, unanimous positive mouth talk made the movie a blockbuster at the box office. Moreover, the movie set a new trend in tollywood and Nagarjuna turned as a trend setter. More highlights of the movie are as follows.
* Having been inspired with the success of 'Siva', many film makers tried to adopt new generation technology in their films too. However, only a few films hit the bulls eye.
* Ilayaraja's wonderful compositions made the movie a musical hit. 'Botani pathamundi' song created a kind of mania among the youth, especially college going youth. Students thought it would be a crime without bunking the colleges and watching the movie, as the lyrics of 'Botany pathamundi conveyed the clear message to bunk the colleges and watch films'.
* Amala appeared a perfect fit opposite Nagarjuna in the movie. JD Chakravarthy, who played one of the key roles in the movie, emerged as a villain and hero in subsequent days.
* Raghuvaran's 'Bhavani' character is ever remembered.
* 'Siva' dubbed into Tamil as 'Udhayam' and proved to be a super hit in kollywood box office as well. The movie was remade in Hindi as 'Shiva' and got decent hit result at bollywood box office.
* Although the movie was released in less number of theaters in its first release, it could manage to make biggest shares at the box office. In Nizam, the movie collected nearly Rs.1 crore while in Ceded, this number is around Rs.50 lakhs. On a whole, the movie grossed over Rs.4 crores at the end of its full run. Apart from its collections and records, 'Siva' secured a prominent place in the life of Nagarjuna as well as in the history of Telugu cinema.