Cleaning up systemic corruption has been Shankar’s pet theme, whether in Indian, Mudhalvan or Anniyan. He also has a larger-than-life style and the ability to make the absurd palatable. But Game Changer has no new ideas, only a star in a double role who will bring in fans.
The Telugu film, which has been dubbed into Hindi, takes a few seconds to establish that a chief minister (Srikanth) is dying and his clownish finger-snapping son Mopidev (SJ Suryah) wants to grab the post. Ram Nandan (Ram Charan) enters in a black tank top and lungi, beats up some baddies and then lands in a helicopter amidst a dancing throng dressed like they were getting ready for the Republic Day float.
Ram is the new collector of Vizag, with more powers than the prime minister – which he lists out in case nobody believes him. Ram clashes with Mopidev over the chief ministership. The action shifts to a tribal dance number and a flashback to Ram’s principled father (also Ram Charan).
Ram’s girlfriend Deepika (Kiara Advani) disapproves of his anger and tendency to beat up anybody in sight. Deepika is around for a couple of songs and forgotten until it’s time for another big song-and-dance number.
Because Ram Charan is the “global superstar” (the credits say so), he can be IAS, IPS or a politician depending on his mood. He can commander drones and bulldozers and trash compactors to take on Mopidev’s goons without getting up from his chair.
Shankar’s vigilante politics need an upgrade along with his much too bombastic filmmaking style. He moves so fast on an incoherent script (by Vivek Velmurugan, Sri Madhav Burra and Karthik Subbaraj) that no moment registers.
Shankar can’t even decide on a cause – the sand mafia, milk adulteration, deforestation and mining are all picked as if though in a game of darts. Tirru’s camera gallops frantically like it’s trying to outpace molten lava from an erupting volcano.
The songs are instantly forgettable. The loud, insistent background score could wake up the dead on the next planet.
Ram Charan can act, given a chance, but Game Changer does him no favours. Probably the longest that Shankar allows the camera to linger on his star’s face is when a grief-stricken Ram beats himself on the chest and head with a dead person’s slippers (pristine of course).
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