Game Changer

While this isn't as terrible as Indian 2 overall, the entirety of the first hour is some of the worst bits of filmmaking I have seen from the once-iconic director. The comedy sucks (Sunil and Vennela Kishore characters desperately need the "DELETE" button), the intro fight & song combo is horrendous, the romance between Charan and Kiara's characters is so poorly written, and SJ Suryah does eccentric SJ Suryah for the millionth time. Yeah, I should stop looking at this as a Tamil film, because it clearly isn't aiming to be one.

Almost every song is a bathroom break, though I like some of the beats in Dhop (along with its vibrant picturization). It was difficult to connect with the protagonist - an IAS officer + IPS officer + Election Officer + Angry Dude in College + whatever the hell the writing needs him to be. We connected with Shankar's protagonists in some of his earlier films because most of them weren't default superheroes. Very often, the circumstance creates one, and that formula worked for him for nearly 2 decades. But gone are those days. I'm not sure what ideas Karthik Subbaraj fed Shankar in the initial stages-ultimately, Shankar chose to give it the same screenplay treatment as Mudhalvan, Sivaji, and the likes.. in 2025. Plus, the only time I bought the performer in Ram Charan was during the short flashback portion, and even that's less impactful.

Kiara Advani is drop-dead gorgeous, though she's mostly relegated to being a song-and-dance prop in the film. Anjali gets a meatier presence than expected, and is fine in the flashback (..not the present). Jayaram is disposable, and Srikanth plays the guy Samuthirakani or Sachin Khedekar usually takes up. My biggest gripe, however, is with the action sequences. I don't remember Shankar directing action this terribly, like EVER. Peter Hein and Anbariv are involved, but to what avail? Every set piece is wholly forgettable. The "Hari-fication" of Shankar is well and truly underway, as far as the pacing is concerned. I don't have any faith in his upcoming projects. God save the Velpari adaptation.

What a stupid film to watch in 2025! A bare plot for an entertaining film. No intelligent storytelling approach has been applied in this film. Just wasted money for color grading and set designs. The directorial unit only thought about cheap claps from witty, conventional dialogues and attitudes. Sadly, that did not work. If the directors nowadays still think that the audiences will love their work just because they checked not to forget mixing all the emotional tablets in every seconds of their film to fool the audiences, then they are wrong, and they obviously need to change their vision. These types of movies are enough to kill any actor's career.

One thing's clear, this isn't a torture like Indian 2, but also nowhere near the standards Shankar has set It's just like a passable routine Telugu commercial movie

Ram Charan shines as Appanna, that's the lifeline of the movie, otherwise, it's an average outing for him. SJ Suryah tries hard, but writing doesn't offer him much. Why Kiara? Anjali, just okay, rest of all, nothing.

Technically, Thaman is the only one who breathes life into the proceedings, but Villain and "UNPREDICTABLE" BGM were terribly overused. Songs were average, but surprisingly, even the picturisation was the same, much hyped "JARAGANDI" was a farce.

Camera work by Thiru was subpar TBH, never thought I'd say that in a Shankar movie, literally mocobot everywhere. Editing by Ruben and Shameer was fine.

Coming to Shankar, man, it's frustrating and gut-wrenching to see his standards going down, he redefined the commercial genre, but here, despite political thriller being his strong suite, the writing and direction, both were below average.

BOTTOMLINE : Comeback Shankar wait continues.......

'Game Changer' is a very ordinary political commercial entertainer that is carried completely by Ram Charan's performance and Thaman's BGM at times.

The first half is pretty mediocre with a boring love track and ineffective comedy but gets interesting leading up to the interval. The second half starts on superb note with a 20 minute flashback that reminds us of Vintage Shankar. However, after this portion, it again turns back into a run of the mill political movie that turns melodramatic and tiring towards the end.

The film uses similar tropes to many political movies in the past which gives it an outdated and tiring feel at times. The heart and soul of the film is a 20 minute flashback. RC is absolutely superb as Appana in this flash back and will remain as another feather in his cap. The rest of RCs character is a regular IAS role that is a cakewalk for him. Thaman's music is an asset for the film whenever it doesn't enter the overly loud mode. The production values are good especially in the songs.

This is easily better than Indian 2, however, it can't be considered as a comeback for Shankar as his writing and taking is below par and is completely carried by the music and Charan. Just Ok!

Rating: 5/10.

I went to this movie with no expectations and it is not outright bad as his previous movie, Indian 2. The flashback episode is decent, the cat and mouse game between Ram and Mopidevi is engaging to some extent, interval block was interesting.

The movie starts with a hint in the beginning that it's a commercial entertainer supposed to be out 30 years ago. I hate having a mass fight sequence followed by an introduction song. Shankar could have used this time to establish the plot line.

Dance numbers are untimely. Can't even mention about the counless physics defying fight sequences and brainless cringe scenes. It is silly that Ram had to address his anger issues so that he can channel anger to become IPS officer.

It's worth watching once in OTT when it's available.