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Game Changer (film)

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Game Changer
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. Shankar
Screenplay byS. Shankar
S. Venkatesan
Dialogues bySai Madhav Burra
Story byKarthik Subbaraj
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTirru
R. Rathnavelu
Edited byShameer Muhammed
Ruben
Music byS. Thaman
Production
company
Distributed bySVC Adityaram Movies (Tamil Nadu)
AA Films (North India)
E4 Entertainment (Kerala)
Hombale Films
Showing Business (Karnataka)
Phars Film (Overseas)
Release date
  • 10 January 2025 (2025-01-10)
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget250 crore[1]

Game Changer is an upcoming Indian Telugu-language political action thriller film directed by S. Shankar in his Telugu directorial debut, from a story written by Karthik Subbaraj. It is produced by Sri Venkateswara Creations. The film stars Ram Charan in dual roles, alongside Kiara Advani, Anjali, Samuthirakani, S. J. Suryah, Srikanth, Prakash Raj and Sunil.

Principal photography commenced in October 2021 and concluded in July 2024 after several delays. Filming locations included Hyderabad, New Zealand, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, and Chandigarh. The film has music composed by Thaman S, cinematography handled by Tirru and editing by Shameer Muhammed and Ruben.

It is scheduled to release on 10 January 2025, coinciding with Sankranti.

Premise

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Ram Nandan, an IAS officer strives to combat corrupt politicians by advocating for fair elections to transform the workings ways of the government, often eliminating corrupt politicians. In the way he learns more about his father Appanna, who fights against the water resources of his village. How does he save Appanna’s dream forms the story. A gripping political thriller[2]

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]

On 30 September 2017, it was announced Dil Raju would produce Shankar's Indian 2 starring Kamal Haasan.[citation needed] However the studio backed out the following month, reportedly due to increased production costs and Shankar and Dil Raju planned to collaborate on another project which later became Game Changer.[citation needed] In early February 2021, it was reported that S. Shankar and Ram Charan would collaborate for a film, which would be simultaneously shot in Telugu and Tamil languages.[3] The project was funded by Dil Raju and Sirish's Sri Venkateswara Creations, in their maiden collaboration with Shankar and Charan and was officially announced on 12 February, under the working title RC15 (as it is Charan's 15th film as the lead actor) and SVC50.[4] The film's official title, Game Changer, was announced on 27 March 2023, on the occasion of Charan's birthday.[5] Shankar initially estimated the production cost at 250 crore (US$30 million). However, by July 2024, reports indicated that the budget had risen to 500 crore (US$60 million),[6] though The Times of India in the same month estimated it at 200 crore (US$24 million).[7]

Pre-production

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Director Karthik Subbaraj wrote the film's original story with Shankar writing the screenplay.[8] Sai Madhav Burra contributed to the dialogues.[9] Tirru was signed on as the cinematographer, marking his maiden collaboration with Shankar.[10] The remaining technical team of the film consisted of editor Shameer Muhammed,[11] action choreographer duo Anbariv, and art director Avinash Kolla.[12] Thaman S would score the music in his first collaboration with Shankar as music director.[13] Dance choreographers of the film include Prabhu Deva, Jani Master, Prem Rakshith, Bosco Martis, Ganesh Acharya, and Sandy Master.[12]

Casting

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Initially, Shankar wanted Pawan Kalyan to play the lead role but Dil Raju was skeptical about the choice and Charan was finalised for the role.[citation needed] Charan reportedly plays a dual role as a father and son.[14] In July 2021 it was announced that Kiara Advani was signed on to be the lead actress which marks her second collaboration with Charan after Vinaya Vidheya Rama.[15] Anjali was cast in a pivotal role, while Sunil, Srikanth, Jayaram, and Naveen Chandra were all confirmed to be a part of the film.[16] S. J. Suryah was confirmed to be part of the film in September 2022.[17]

Filming

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The film was formally launched with a muhurat shot on 8 September 2021 at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad with a traditional pooja ceremony attended by Ranveer Singh, Chiranjeevi, and S. S. Rajamouli.[18][19]

Principal photography began on 22 October 2021 and the first schedule was completed in the first week of November. Filming took place in Maharashtra at Pune, Satara and Phaltan.[20] Later that month, a song was shot for 10 days, at a specially erected set in Ramoji Film City. The song, which also included international dancers, was choreographed by Jani Master.[21] The Times of India reported that nearly 23 crore (US$2.8 million) was spent on the song.[22] During the schedule, the team also shot a 7-minute action sequence at a reported cost of 70 crore (US$8.4 million). Anbariv and others were hired to design these action sequences in the film.[23]

The third schedule for the film commenced in February 2022.[24] Planned for about 20 days, the shoot took place in Andhra Pradesh at Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Kovvur and other nearby places of West Godavari and East Godavari districts.[25][26] Later the same month, it was reported that filming for Indian 2, also directed by Shankar, which the production was halted for two and a half years,[27] would take place after wrapping up the film shoot.[28] Charan took a break from filming to take part in the success celebrations of RRR and returned to filming in April. Charan and Advani began a 20-day schedule at Amritsar in April, to film their college portions.[29][30] For undisclosed reasons, R. Rathnavelu joined the unit in Amritsar to complete the remaining portions in place of Tirru.[31] In May, the crew shot a schedule in Visakhapatnam.[32]

By July 2022, 60% of the filming was completed with Shankar intending to wrap up filming by December. Earlier the same month, a massive song involving around 1000 dancers was shot in Punjab and Hyderabad. After the song shoot, an action sequence involving 1200 fighters was planned.[33] [34] In August, Shankar confirmed that he would be shooting both Game Changer and Indian 2, simultaneously.[35] The filming was planned to resume in early September in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.[35] In November 2022, 10 days of a schedule was filmed in New Zealand, where the team picturized an expensive song across multiple exotic locations in the country.[34]

In February 2023, filming resumed with a few scenes shot at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, Visakhapatnam, followed by Simhachalam and Charminar.[36][37] A few pictures of scenes from the set were leaked online during the filming at the university.[38] In March 2023, a song involving 100 dancers, choreographed by Prabhu Deva, was shot.[39] In April 2023, Shankar revealed that he would be shooting the climactic scenes soon.[40] On 26 April 2023, filming of the climactic scenes started under the supervision of Anbariv, in a special set in Shamshabad.[41] Charan shot high combat scenes with 1200 fighters for the same.[42] On 9 May, filming of the climax was wrapped.[43] In July, an action sequence choreographed by Peter Hein was wrapped in Hyderabad.[44] Mysore schedule was started on 23 November,[45] and was wrapped early December.[46] In late December, a short schedule in Hyderabad, featuring Srikanth, Samuthirakani, S. J. Suryah, and others was wrapped up.[47] The final schedule was completed in July 2024.[48]

Music

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Game Changer
Soundtrack album by
Released2025
Recorded2021–2024
Studio
GenreFilm soundtrack
LengthTBA
LanguageTelugu
LabelSaregama
ProducerThaman S.
Thaman S. chronology
Baby John
(2024)
Game Changer
(2025)
Daaku Maharaaj
(2025)
Singles from Game Changer
  1. "Jaragandi"
    Released: 27 March 2024
  2. "Raa Macha Macha"
    Released: 30 September 2024
  3. "NaaNaa Hyraanaa"
    Released: 28 November 2024
  4. "Dhop"
    Released: 22 December 2024

The film's soundtrack and score are composed by Thaman S, in his first musical collaboration, along with his second overall collaboration, with Shankar, after making his acting debut in Boys (2003).[49] It also marks the fourth time Shankar is working with another music composer besides his regular collaborator, A. R. Rahman. Thaman composed and recorded an introduction song on 14–15 July 2021 in Hyderabad, with the help of 135 musicians.[50] The audio rights for the film were acquired by Saregama.[51]

The song "Jaragandi" was leaked online in September 2023, which was reportedly made on a budget of 15 crore.[52] Later, the makers announced the song as the first single which would be released on Diwali 2023.[53] However, the highly negative response from the audience prompted Thaman to change the singers, delaying the official release of the song.[54][55] It released on 27 March 2024, on the occasion of Charan's 39th birthday to mixed reviews criticizing it's composition but received praise for its visuals and making.[56]

The second single titled "Raa Macha Macha" was released on 30 September 2024 to mixed reviews from critics criticizing its composition and lyrics, calling it "outdated and ordinary", but received praise for its visuals and making.[57][58] The third single Naa Naa Hyraanaa was released on 28 November 2024.[59] The fourth single, titled "Dhop", was released on 22 December 2024.

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Jaragandi"Anantha SriramDaler Mehndi, Sunidhi Chauhan4:20
2."Raa Macha Macha"Anantha SriramNakash Aziz4:43
3."NaaNaa Hyraanaa"Ramajogayya SastryKarthik, Shreya Ghoshal4:41
4."Dhop"Ramajogayya SastryThaman S, Roshini, Prudhvi Chandra, Sruthi Ranjani Modumudi4:51

Release

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Theatrical

[edit]

Game Changer is scheduled to release on 10 January 2025, coinciding with Sankranti weekend.[60] Previously, the film was announced to release on Christmas 2024, but due to unfinished post-production work it was eventually postponed.[61][62]

Distribution

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The Tamil dubbed version of the film is being distributed by Adityaram, under Adityaram Movies.[63] Anil Thadani of AA Films acquired the distribution rights of the dubbed Hindi version for North India.[64]

Home Media

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The digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by Amazon Prime Video for ₹105 crore.[65] The broadcasting rights were sold to Zee Telugu for solid price.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Game Changer: A Big Burden Of Rs 300 Cr". greatandhra. 23 December 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Game Changer: 5 things we know about Ram Charan, Kiara Advani's film so far". Hindustan Times. The story was provided by Amazon Prime Video on a press note.
  3. ^ "Ram Charan to team up with director Shankar for a historical drama?". The Times of India. 12 February 2021. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Ram Charan will team up with director Shankar, confirms Sri Venkateswara Creations". The Times of India. 12 February 2021. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
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  48. ^ "It's a wrap for Ram Charan-Shankar's 'Game Changer'". The Hindu. 8 July 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  49. ^ "Music director Thaman joins Shankar-RamCharan's #RC15". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  50. ^ "Composer Thaman is excited to be on board for 'brother' Ram Charan's RC15". 19 July 2021. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  51. ^ "Saregama Secures The Audio Rights Of Ram Charan-starrer Game Changer". News18. 8 November 2023. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  52. ^ "Game Changer Song Made on Whopping Budget Leaked, Makers Furious". Deccan Chronicle. 16 September 2023. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
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  54. ^ "Thaman unsatisfied with Game Changer 1st single". TrackTollywood. 11 November 2023. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  55. ^ "Reason Reason behind the postponement of the "Game Changer" song?". India Herald. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
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  57. ^ "Game Changer song Raa Macha Macha OUT: Ram Charan's dance steps and Thaman's music in the folk-style number are a banger". Pinkvilla. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
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  63. ^ "'Game Changer': Ram Charan-Shankar movie becomes first ever Indian film to host a pre-release event in the USA". The Hindu Bureau. 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  64. ^ "Allu Arjun's 'Pushpa 2,' Ram Charan's 'Game Changer,' Prabhas' 'Kalki,' NTR Jr's 'Devara' Snapped Up for India Distribution by AA Films (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  65. ^ "Ram Charan's Game Changer Digital Rights Sold To Amazon Prime Video For Whopping Rs 105 Crore: Report". zoomtventertainment. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
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