Shivaani, a maiden film by Vishal Raj has many firsts. The lead cast Suraj (Vijay) and Shivaani (Shivaani) and Anil Kumar (Shashank) are all debutants.

The movie revolves around the life of Shivani after whom the film is named. A tomboy by nature, she is a menace in her colony. Vijay also lives there, estranged from his brother Nagaraj (Dharma) who is a goon.

In the first half, the director depicts the friendship between Vijay and Shivaani and how under the provocation of his friends, Vijay mistakes it for love and suffers as he is unable to express his love. 

The major drawback of the movie is its poorly developed story and uneven narration. The twists and turns in the film tests the viewer’s patience. The director has brought in many sub-plots which fail to relate themselves with the main story and at times are a burden to watch. There are many scenes which are incomprehensible and do not give a sense of continuity. Ditto with the item number. Further, the flashback that shows the reason behind Vijay and his brother Nagaraj’s estrangement is utterly out of place, coming very late in the movie. Michael Nagaraj as the villain Kyate goes over the top with his cheeky dialogues, and turns in a fine performance. Anil Kumar has miles to go in acting. The characters of Avinash and Vanita Vasu unfortunately lack depth. Thankfully, comedy scenes involving Komal provides much needed relief. Music by James is satisfactory though not inspiring. Some of the dialogues and jokes played among Suraj and his friends are really good. As the lead pair, Suraj and Shivaani have done well but in emotional scenes both are liabilities. A sad attempt though.