Shivalinga (2016 film)

Raheem and his well-trained pigeon Saara are alone in a coach aboard a train when a blind man enters and reaches for the exit mistaking it for the toilet. Raheem saves the man, a killer, who in turn throws Raheem off the moving train to his death. Raheem's death is ruled a suicide, but his fiancée Sangeetha knows that Raheem had no reason to kill himself. The same night, Raheem appears in Sangeetha's dream and says that he was murdered. The following day, Raheem's case is forwarded to the CID at Sangeetha's request, and Shiva is asked to head the investigation.

Shiva is a strict officer who is married to a thrill-seeker named Satyabhama. The two move to Mysore and stay at a house overlooking a cemetery. Shiva begins the investigation. The same night, Satyabhama sees a ghost of a child and is frightened by this. Shiva, however, could not see the ghost and thinks that she is hallucinating. The following day, he visits Raheem's home to enquire about his relationship with his father and Sangeetha. Shiva suspects Sangeetha's father to be responsible for Raheem's death.

Meanwhile, Satyabhama's behaviour becomes erratic. She drives around the city frequently, redecorates the house with green curtains and lights, cooks biryani, even though she has never made the dish before. Later, a house servant tell Shiva about her strange behavior. Shiva meets his friend Ashok, who is a psychiatrist. He advises Shiva to observe her behaviour secretly. That night, Shiva returns home early. He hears a man's voice and smells a cigar burning. He heads to Satyabhama's room and is shocked to discover that Raheem's soul has possessed her body. Raheem warns Shiva that he must solve Raheem's murder.

Shiva accesses the security footage at the Bangalore railway station and discovers that the blind man is the killer. He concludes that the man, David, only faked blindness to kill Raheem. He tracks him and chases him before cornering him on a train coach with no passengers. Satyabhama, still possessed by Raheem, enters and demands to know the motive behind his killing from David, who tries to escape by jumping out of the moving train, only to fall to his death. Shiva takes Satyabhama to a dargah, informing only her mother about her condition. A demonologist helps them send Raheem's soul out of her body but tells them that it is temporary. He tells Shiva that solving Raheem's case is the only way to save Satya completely.

Shiva resumes the investigation, with Saara helping him by giving clues. He interrogates Satyabhama at the CID conference hall regarding Raheem. Satyabhama reveals that Raheem retrieved her tablet computer, which was absconded by a pickpocketer. She had taken his picture for the sake of friendship. Her classmate Rahul who had taken a romantic interest but is dismissed by her, witnesses this and out of jealousy and wanting to ruin her life, made a call pretending to be Raheem asking her to meet him at a particular location. Satyabhama's father, who was already spying on Satyabhama, answered the call. The piece of information made him angry, and decided to kill innocent Raheem. Then, after unveiling the truth, Raheem's ghost possess Satyabhama's father and kills him instantaneously.

Initially, Bhavana of Jackie fame was selected to be the leading lady. However, she could not take up the project because of her Malayalam film commitments.[5] Later Vedhika was selected as lead actress.[6] Shivarajkumar is said to be appearing in the role of an CID Officer.[7] The film was launched on 15 December 2014 at Kanteerava Studios.[8] The first schedule of the film was completed at Ulsoor.[9] Vijay Raghavendra was the initial choice for the role which later went on to be portrayed by Shakthi Vasudevan.[10]

V. Harikrishna composed the background score for the film and its soundtrack. The soundtrack album consists of five tracks.[11] It was released on 27 November 2015 in Bengaluru.[12]

In May 2016, P. Vasu announced plans to remake the film in Tamil as same name. Raghava Lawrence and Ritika Singh appeared in this version.[13][14]

The film has completed 100-day and collected over ₹35 crore in Indian box office.[1][15]

• Shivalinga at IMDb