Game Changer : Ram Charan shines in Shankar's political thriller, despite flaws

He's a cop, district collector as well as the Chief Electoral Officer, all rolled in to one.
At one point, he is even set to become the next Chief Minister. What fun!!
Truly, madly, deeply, Shankar's latest anti corruption crusader is some sort of superhero, come undone!!

Inspired from Shankar's own Mudhalvan (1999) (remade by him as Nayak (2001) in Hindi), Game Changer is just an updated upgraded version of that '90s hit. The hero is battling the corrupt political forces and uses every trick in the book to ensure a fair election. On the way, he learns the political party he is fighting against, was once formed by his own virtuous father, who refused to adopt the 'cash for votes' model.

Shankar offers quite a few pertinent solutions to the current political situation. He even has a stinging response to the "election hack" issue. Political rot and omnipresent corruption, a common thread in practically every Shankar film, continues to be the focal point here. So does the director's penchant for an elaborate flashback...

On the positive, Ram Charan in a dynamic double role, is absolutely brilliant. The Global Star is able to establish a distinct individuality in both the characters, particularly excelling as the stammering righteous activist. Kudos!

Kiara Advani is wasted in a thankless glamour doll role. She looks gorgeous in those songs (Dhop and Jaragandi) though!! As for the songs and their much discussed extravagant choreography, they have translated fantastically on screen with every penny (spent) clearly visible.

On the flipside, the main villain (S.J. Suryah), though a towering personality, tends to overact at times and his loud performance is a put off. The film's length at two hours forty minutes, is another concern and offers scope to be trimmed by atleast twenty minutes.

With all its pros and cons, Game Changer is a significant improvement over Shankar's previous Indian 2 (2024) and certainly qualifies for a one time watch. Having said that, the Shankar of Gentleman (1993), Indian (1996), Mudhalvan (1999) and Anniyan (2005) is still missing...

Ratings on some key aspects* :
1. Acting : 4/5 (Ram Charan)
2. Direction : 2.5/5
3. Music : 2/5
4. Story, Screenplay and Dialogue : 2.5/5
5. Cinematography : 4/5
6. Editing : 2/5
7. Costume Design : 4/5
8. Special Effects and VFX : 3.5/5
9. Action : 4/5
10. Production Quality : 4/5

#SNRating for #GameChanger : 3 stars out of 5.

- Sumeet Nadkarni

* - The overall film rating is not a simple average of all ratings on key aspects but a weighted average of the ratings where some crucial aspects (like direction, acting, story and screenplay etc) are assigned more weightage than others.

About Sumeet Nadkarni:

Sumeet Nadkarni is a Chartered Accountant by profession and a self-styled film critic by passion. He reviews Bollywood movies and OTT releases on his popular personal blog #SNRatings. His film-related articles have appeared in leading publications in India. With a keen eye for cinematic detail and a knack for insightful critiques, Sumeet brings a unique perspective to the world of Indian cinema. Follow him for the latest Bollywood insights and unbiased film reviews. #FilmCritique #BollywoodReviewer

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