Ram Gopal Varma’s 1989 film Shiva, starring Nagarjuna, will soon have a grand theatrical re-release on November 14. The pathbreaking hit grabbed the audience’s imagination for multiple reasons, including its stylistic and visually novel action set-pieces. One of them was particularly risky on execution, involving Nagarjuna riding a bicycle at a very brisk pace while carrying a young child artist on the front seat. While the film became a huge hit, the child artist, credited as Baby Sushma, never worked in films again. 

On Wednesday morning, Ram Gopal Varma shared an update on the whereabouts of the child artist. Sharing a photo of Sushma, RGV first penned in a social media post, “Sushma is now doing research in AI and Cognitive Science in the USA,” before going on to apologise to Sushma in a separate post.

Addressing Sushma, Ram Gopal Varma stated, “Please accept my sincere apologies after 36 years for subjecting you to such a traumatic experience which I dint realise at that time. The directorial greed in me took over in being blinded to subjecting a little girl like you to such risky shots.. I apologise once again.”

While the bicycle chase sequence continues to be praised for its thrills and technique, it also harks back to a time when safety regulations were not a major concern while shooting action for most Indian film shoots, including scenes with huge stars.

Shiva, which also starred Amala and Raghuvaran in key roles, will have a massive re-release on November 14. On Monday, the makers held a special screening for their film, followed by a special media interaction with Ram Gopal Varma and Nagarjuna.