The Collaboration:
Dil Raju committed to producing Indian 2 with Shankar, but due to budget constraints and other reasons, Dil Raju stepped away from the project. Shankar and Dil Raju mutually agreed to collaborate on another film in the future. Shankar then partnered with Lyca Productions for Indian 2, but after a few months, the project was halted due to budget issues.
Later, Shankar approached Dil Raju with a new idea penned by Karthik Subbaraj, which Dil Raju liked. Shankar initially envisioned Pawan Kalyan in the lead role, but due to Pawan Kalyan’s political commitments, Dil Raju suggested that the project could work for Ram Charan. Shankar met Ram Charan, narrated the idea, and Ram Charan liked it, leading to the project being officially signed.
Game Changer’s Pre-Production Strategy:
Ram Charan, during the movie discussions, was working on RRR. It is a well-known fact that after RRR, Ram Charan would emerge as a pan-India star, and Shankar already had a strong pan-India brand. So, the film was expected to work well in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi languages. Dil Raju planned a budget of around ₹300 crore, believing it would be feasible, and Shankar agreed.
The movie was announced as a landmark project for SVC, marking SVC 50, on February 12, 2021. The pooja ceremony took place on September 8, and the movie went on floors in October 2021. The initial plan was to follow continuous shooting schedules and aim for an early 2023 release.
Indian 2 Returns: Dil Raju’s Costly Misstep
Game Changer’s schedules have been continuing continuously. During this time, Kamal Haasan’s Vikram was released and became a resounding success. Following this, Red Giant Movies, the distributor of Vikram, stepped in to resolve the conflicts surrounding Indian 2. They discussed the issues with Lyca, replanned the budget, and even came on board as one of the producers.
They quickly brought Indian 2 back to sets. This is where Dil Raju went completely wrong — either he failed to secure a commitment from Shankar to avoid working on other films, or he didn’t fight hard enough to prevent the overlap. Shankar somehow convinced both the Indian 2 and Game Changer teams that he could handle both projects in parallel. Indian 2, after a long break, resumed shooting in August 2022, and that’s when the hurdles for Game Changer began.
The shooting of Game Changer was delayed, and the budget escalated significantly. Massive differences arose between the business partners, and Zee Studios, which was involved in the production, faced several challenges. The ongoing delays forced Dil Raju to take huge financial risks. He lost control over several aspects — the rising budget, shoot delays, movie footage, and even the release date.
Ultimately, Indian 2 was released in theaters before Game Changer and turned out to be a massive disaster. This put Game Changer in a deficit situation, as by then, the budget had already crossed ₹400 crore — ₹100 crore more than the initially planned amount.
Game Changer Post-Production Works, Pre-Release Hype and Business:
Shankar, after Indian 2 release, immediately returned to work on the post-production of Game Changer. Dil Raju requested Shankar to edit the film to a commercial runtime of around 165–170 minutes. At that time, Shankar had nearly 5 hours of footage. He spent a lot of time reviewing the film and even did a few reshoots. The post-production process dragged on, and after extensive editing, he finally trimmed the runtime to 165 minutes. However, this process led to crores of rupees being wasted on unused footage.
When it came to pre-release buzz, Thaman failed to deliver chartbuster songs, and nothing went viral. The teasers and posters didn’t create the expected impact, and Indian 2’s failure further damaged Shankar’s brand, casting a negative shadow over the film. The only factor keeping hopes alive was Ram Charan’s star power, which helped the film secure a theatrical business of around 200 crore. Including non-theatrical rights and other deals, Game Changer managed to fetch around 350 crore in total. However, with the film’s budget reportedly soaring to 450 crore by release time, Dil Raju ended up facing a deficit of over 100 crore.
Game Changer Review:
Game Changer started with weak character development, lacking a strong purpose, and failing to connect scenes and emotions in the first half. The love portion goes completely wrong, but the movie picks up good momentum by the interval. The flashback portions give hope that the movie is back on track, with Ram Charan delivering a stellar performance as Appanna in well-written scenes. However, the flashback is very short. After that, Ram Charan returns as an election officer, and the movie completely falls apart, with no clear direction. From that point until the end, things go from bad to worse, ultimately leading to a disappointing result.
Shankar mentioned trimming many good scenes from the film, but it’s hard to understand what those scenes were. Apart from the flashback and interval sequences, the rest of the movie lacks a single standout moment.
Game Changer Box Office:
Game Changer was released with a breakeven target of ₹450 crore gross but opened with a ₹85 crore start. Due to low pre-release hype, negative word of mouth, and poor reviews, the film failed to attract audiences. It ended up as a disaster in all languages. In Telugu, it collected ₹150 crore, ₹35 crore in Hindi, and ₹10 crore in Tamil, resulting in a total gross of ₹195 crore — achieving just 43% recovery.
Who Lost Big in the Game Changer Failure?
Definitely, the film did not impact Ram Charan’s stardom. Pulling a ₹200 crore gross despite all the odds is not easy, and he delivered a very good performance. The main losers with this film are Shankar and Dil Raju. Dil Raju lost crores of rupees — an unprecedented loss for him. As for Shankar, finding a producer for his next project has now become very difficult.
Final Word:
Game Changer had the potential to be a hit, with a good story and a strong character like Appanna. But poor planning, lack of control over schedules, and budget issues affected the film. If Dil Raju had handled Indian 2’s timing and Shankar’s overconfidence, things might have turned out better. Even adding more of Appanna’s flashback in the second half could have helped.
If you want to check it out, the film is streaming on Prime Video — You can give it a try for Ram Charan’s presence and his role as Appanna.
