Game Changer Review: Ram Charan, Shankar play by old rules. No game changed!

Game Changer is Ram Charan's first movie to release in theatres since RRR in 2022. Despite his stardom, the movie had a muted opening-day response. This was anticipated, as even producer Dil Raju rued that all his marketing efforts failed to capture the audience's imagination, as evidenced by the film's pre-release ticket sales.

One of the reasons is believed to be the poor reception of director Shankar's previous movie Indian 2, which shocked audiences across the country. It caused serious damage to Shankar's reputation, dampening the anticipation around Game Changer.

Unlike Indian 2, Game Changer is not a total disappointment. And that's not a good thing, considering Indian 2 set such a low bar. Indian 2 exposed Shankar's limitations as a screenplay writer. Without the contributions of writer Sujatha, Shankar's recent movies have not been able to resonate with audiences as they used to. Since the story of Game Changer was provided by Karthik Subbaraj, hoping it would be better than Indian 2 was a modest expectation.

Game Changer revolves around an IAS officer, Ram (Ram Charan). While almost all movies have shown us how powerful the ruling class is, and how bureaucrats are nothing but mere pawns in the complex game of politics, Game Changer begs to differ. It shows Ram in a more powerful dynamic as he flips his finger at nefarious and power-hungry politicians, played by S. J. Suryah and Jayaram.

In Game Changer, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Bobbili Sathyamurthy (played by Srikanth) comes under a sudden attack of conscience and wants to make amends at the tail end of his political career. He decides to be a good and honest public servant with just one year left in his term as chief minister. His sons, Bobbili Mopidevi (Suryah) and Ramachandra Reddy (Jayaram), disagree as it would prevent them from engaging in illegal activities. How Ram is connected to this power struggle and how he's going to change the game makes up the rest of the movie.

However, Game Changer is neither coherent in its narration nor provides engaging mindless entertainment. It suffers from the mediocrity that has come to define Shankar's last few movies. The world has evolved drastically post-pandemic, except for Shankar's filmmaking skills. His storytelling style is stuck in a time capsule, still relying on old tropes of separate comedy tracks and empty scenes with no real value to offer.

Game Changer has its moments, particularly in the interval sequence and to some extent in the second half. However, the grandness and sense of having witnessed something revolutionary—how well-meaning people can solve India's myriad complex problems with a single stroke of a pen—is missing. Filling up screens with people or big vehicles is no longer considered grand. It needs to be felt in the hearts and minds of audiences, irrespective of the scale of the movie.