‘Game Changer’ movie review: The fun is tailormade for instant gratification

Director Shankar’s latest has fun segments featuring Ram Charan and SJ Suryah, but the hasty narrative leaves little room for emotional heft

At a pre-release promotional event, director Shankar mentioned how his new film, Game Changer, considers the audience’s diminishing attention spans, shaped by Instagram Reels, and delivers engaging sequences in quick succession. This is perhaps why two-hour 45-minute film feels like a patchwork of segments opting for hurried transitions rather than seamless segways. Is Shankar’s first Telugu film (his older Tamil films were massive hits in Telugu) fun? Yes, quite a bit. Do the face-offs between Ram Charan and SJ Suryah live up to the hype? Sure, there are clapworthy lines and segments. The bigger question is, beyond the instant gratification, will these segments, or the film, stand the test of time?

Game Changer credits its story to filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj, with overarching themes of a corruption-free society and good governance that Shankar has explored since the 1990s. For anyone acquainted with Shankar’s films, there are several Easter eggs or callbacks to cheer. When Ram Nandan (Ram Charan) mentions one-day chief minister, it is a recall to Mudhalvan (Oke Okkadu in Telugu) that made the audience take in every minute of the drama with attention, for a while giving in to the wishful thinking of what if swift clean-up measures were undertaken in governance.

In Shankar’s earlier films, the protagonists were mostly common men and women raising their voices against the system. This time, Shankar makes Ram Nandan a civil servant, giving him power to do a clean-up operation. The story also spotlights the role played by the election commission.

Game Changer (Telugu)

Director: S. Shankar
Cast: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali and SJ Suryah
Run time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Storyline: A straightforward civil servant takes on a ruthless politician. A cat-and-mouse game ensues.

The film opens with the promise of intense drama. In the opening segment, an ageing politician is haunted by his past misdeeds. While the storyline treads into predictable territory, the manner in which it unfolds keeps it engaging. Family politics soon take centre stage, as Satyamurthy (Srikanth) watches the rivalry between his two power-hungry sons, Muni Manickyam (Jayaram) and Bobbili Mopidevi (SJ Suryah), come to a boiling point.

The film focuses on the politics in Andhra Pradesh, weaving a story that is set both in the past and present. The narrative focuses on areas in and around Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Vizianagaram, while cleverly leaving out Hyderabad — likely to avoid references to the bifurcation of the Telugu states in 2014.

In the first hour, the film moves briskly from one sequence to another, introducing us to several characters and their game plan. Yet, there is very little to keep us invested in until pre-intermission when the drama heats up and the narrative reveals a few surprises.

A straightforward, tactful IAS officer locking horns with a politician may come across as predictable. Instead, the shape-shifting equations between Ram Nandan and Mopidevi ensures plenty of twists at every turn.

The heartbeat of Game Changer is the segment that features Ram Charan (in a double role) as Appanna, a son-of-the-soil character advocating for governance free from the influence of money. Ram Charan brings his A-game to a character that speaks with a stutter and internalises the agony of not being able to communicate his thoughts eloquently. The characterisation sensitively portrays the challenges faced by those with speech impairments. This is Ram Charan’s best performance after Rangasthalam, and it is a coincidence that his characters in both these films have physical limitations.

The story of Appanna and his wife Parvathy (Anjali) forms the emotional core of the film’s later portions. While the story arc is predictable, the drama remains engaging as the narrative slows down momentarily from its breakneck pace, allowing the characters room to breathe. These moments effectively highlight how power and money can corrupt, leaving us wishing the rest of the film had followed a similar approach. Anjali proves yet again that she is a powerhouse of talent. She effortlessly makes us root for her character, with her impactful performance shining in both her emotionally charged backstory and her present-day transformation. In the latter, where her dialogue is minimal, she still commands attention with her commanding presence and makeover.

Once the backstory has been revealed, the rest of Game Changer shifts to a familiar zone, focussing on the clash between Ram Nandan and Bobbili Mopidevi. Ram Charan breezes through these segments with ease and Suryah, no surprises here, entertains. When he says ‘potharu, mottham potharu’, in a call back to his previous Telugu film Saripodhaa Sanivaaram, the audience cheers.

Game Changer is packed with characters essayed by well known names but very few have the scope to leave a mark. Though Sunil’s character has the element of fun, his introduction scene is a reminder of crass humour that prevailed in mainstream cinema two or three decades ago, even in Shankar’s films.

Srikanth, Rajiv Kanakala and Samuthirakani are among those who add gravitas while several others including Jayaram, Naveen Chandra, Vennela Kishore, Satya and Harsha Chemudu are wasted. As for Kiara Advani, she tries to deliver the best she can in a role that occasionally goes beyond being decorative. In the power games between the characters played by Ram Charan and Suryah, her part is shortchanged. The romantic bits are also lazily written.

Thaman’s music and the background score are in tandem with the mood of the narrative and songs, deftly picturised by Tirru and replete with grandeur that one expects from Shankar’s films, do not stand out. A major disappointment is the overstretched finale with an over-the-top, tiresome action sequence.

Ideally, it would be unfair to compare films. But since Shankar packs Game Changer with throwbacks to several of his earlier films, including Premikudu (Kadhalan), this one might be way better than his last outing, Indian 2, but that is no benchmark. Years later, moviegoers still recall portions from Gentleman, Premikudu, Aparichitudu (Anniyan), Bharateeyudu (Indian), Oke Okkadu (Mudhalvan) and Robot (Endhiran). Game Changer pales in comparison. Perhaps it is time for Shankar, once a game changer in mainstream cinema, to reinvent himself.

Published - January 10, 2025 02:38 pm IST