‘Game Changer’ movie review: Ram Charan and Kiara Advani’s film is forgettable but not as awful as Indian 2

Cast: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, SJ Suryah, Anjali, Jayaram

Director: S. Shankar

Language: Telugu

I don’t think there has to be any other filmmaker apart from S. Shankar who wishes to wipe out corruption from India. The vigilantes he has birthed on celluloid can definitely have their own universe. If Kamal Haasan from Indian (not the sequel), Vikram from Anniyan, Anil Kapoor from Nayak, Rajinikanth from Sivaji: The Boss walked into a bar, wait, they would never walk into a bar. They are so pure and pious, they would walk into a vegetarian restaurant and converse about how the state of the country is improving, thanks to the ingenious and some incorrigible means adopted by them. Ram Charan would then interrupt their emotional talks and proudly declare that they may have played their games well, but he’s the OG Game Changer.

S. Shankar gives Charan a triple role Ala John Abraham in the silly and sinful Satyameva Jayate 2. One is against the law and one is about the law. The third one is torn between the contrasting personalities and ideologies. The filmmaker throws his leading man in almost every frame and makes him do everything his other heroes have been doing for ages. There are slow-motion shots, some money shots, sermons about righteousness, and an inconsequential romantic track. Kiara Advani is unquestionably better than this. The idea to jump into the bandwagon of a pan-India film is more miss than hit.

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Shankar continues his fascination for mounting his songs on unprecedented scale and ambitious imaginations. The visuals have always suggested or signaled the idea is to craft a blend of fantasy and wish-fulfillment realism. But the unabashed enthusiasm and entertainment that made all the aforementioned titles rollicking entertainers seem to be diminishing. His frequent collaborator Sujatha is no more with us, who deserves equal credit for the success of his previous classics. In Game Changer, filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj gets the credit for the story. Of course, it’s not as unwatchable as Satyameva Jayate 2 or _Indian 2_, but is that genuinely a compliment?

Ram Charan’s earnestness is overshadowed by his inability to be as fluid or fragile as Rajinikanth or Chiyaan Vikram. He carries the role with one-note ease and barely breaks a sweat. Who said being upright doesn’t allow you to crack a smile or have fun? SJ Suryah is having more fun as the antagonist. He enjoys being evil just like every antagonist should. Only if Shankar, the once infallible maverick, had fun with his materials too. Has the uprightness of his heroes rubbed off on him in all the wrong ways? He can change the game later, he should first change himself!

Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars)

Game Changer is now running in cinemas

https://youtu.be/QSu9-DBjMPI?si=rrhHPkjRGLODDTjO