Game Changer Review

Ashwin Ram

Game Changer is a political entertainer starring Ram Charan, Kiara Advani and SJ Surya in the lead roles. Directed by Shankar, music composer Thaman is collaborating with him for the first time here.

Premise:

The crimes and corruption by the ruling Government haunts the Chief Minister who is on his deathbed. SJ Surya who aspires to become the next CM doesn’t let him reform. The political war between him and the district collector Ram Charan begins.

Writing/ Direction:

The film starts off on a worrying note, with an overpowering heroic intro scene for Ram Charan, composed and presented badly. There are a couple of impressive raid sequences once he takes charge as the district collector. The social aspects of the story does not rely on corruption alone, there are some well-thought elements that contribute. Sadly the screenplay has issues by getting into this routine masala zone. The college flashback for instance, with an intent to explain why the hero became an IAS officer from an IPS, we are majorly offered cringe comedy stretches and a dull romance track. The grandeur feels forced in many frames, colours are just randomly added just for the sake of it, relentless cleavage shots of women are incorporated at times for no reason. After the detour, the film finally lands on its core spot close to the interval block. Anjali’s character establishment adds curiosity which is followed by a goosebumps Political stage scene. Although, the conflict between Ram Charan and SJ Surya ignites with a generic idea, it is developed well at the midway with a surprising plot point. The flashback follows the trademark Shankar template, decently made one with a convincing Political backdrop and neatly placed character arcs. Post which the movie carries a few joyful moments, but nothing that could build into wholesome sequences. The hero-villain cat and mouse game is middling, with some enjoyable play and the rest ending up as underwhelming situations, especially the climax set piece is weak. Some nuanced dialogues here and there add momentum, overall the director’s stamp exists but not strong enough.

Performances:

Ram Charan shows his full caliber in the flashback with mature performance. He is too stiff in the present portions and more energy was required to carry sarcasm. SJ Surya is overly loud, the limit has exceeded as many instances which does not work in the film’s favour. On the other hand Jayaram’s eccentric behaviour is clap-worthy and he provides many theatre moments. There is a drama with respect to Kiara Advani’s love angle, sadly it doesn’t grow along with the script. The emotional quotient behind Anjali’s character gets a worthy travel throughout the film.

Technicalities:

 Thaman’s songs are below-par, except for the Lyraanaa track which unfortunately doesn’t take place in the flow. Background score is a mixed bag too, the mass appeal is present but gets repetitive over the course of time. The way the song videos have been picturized and choreographed are disappointing, ‘Dhop’ visuals is the only saviour. DOP Tirru’s work boosts the quality in many aspects, but there are plenty of inconsistent shots when things go overboard. The racy edit pattern helps, but the finesse is missing and certain scenes appear to be clumsy and some trimming was also required for a crisper runtime. Stunt choreography lacks variety as all the fight sequences feel the same.

Bottomline

A definite step up for Shankar comparing his recent works, there are a bunch of pleasing moments both in the writing level and execution style. But overall, the engagement is only to an extent and falls short of being an effective social flick.

GAME CHANGER - An Average Political Potboiler!

Rating - 2.5/ 5