Review: ‘Game Changer’ (2025), starring Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S. J. Suryah, Srikanth and Sunil

January 17, 2025

by Carla Hay

Ram Charan in “Game Changer” (Photo courtesy of Zee Studios)

“Game Changer” (2025)

Directed by S. Shankar

Telugu with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Andhra Pradesh, India, the action film “Game Changer” features a predominantly Indian cast of characters (with some white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A district magistrate becomes a politician in his fight against corruption.

Culture Audience: “Game Changer” will appeal mainly to people who don’t mind watching mindless action movies that are too long.

Ram Charan and Kiara Advani in “Game Changer” (Photo courtesy of Zee Studios)

It’s ironic that the title of this movie is “Game Changer,” because everything about this bloated film uses the same formulas as the worst action movies about a hero fighting corruption: It’s loud, obnoxious, idiotic, and too long. The musical numbers in this 165-minute cinematic abomination are tacky and awkwardly placed. And the acting performances are utterly generic.

Directed by S. Shankar and written by Vivek Velmurugan, “Game Changer” takes place in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. That’s where district magistrate Ram Nandan (played by Ram Charan)—a former police officer who is based in the city of Visakhapatnam—acts like a one-man army against criminals. He uncovers a drug smuggling operation and other criminal activities.

“Game Changer” is overloaded with scenes of people shouting at each other and fighting each other. There’s a subplot about a rivalry between the unscrupulous sons of Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister Bobbili Sathyamoorthy (played by Srikanth), who is shallow cliché of a corrupt patriarch in power. Elder son Bobbili Munimanikyam (played by Jayaram) is the home minister of Andhra Pradesh. Younger son Bobbili Mopidevi (played by S. J. Suryah) is the minister of Andhra Pradesh.

At one point, Ram decides to run for political office at the urging of people in the community. It leads to a long-winded and annoying part of the movie where over-the-top things happen, such as a one of Ram’s enemies using a bulldozer to destroy an election building. All the violence in the movie looks unrealistic, including the fake-looking visual effects.

Ram is a bachelor whose family has been pressuring him to get married. Strangely, Charan also plays the role of Ram’s father Appanna, who is the founder of the Abhyudayam Party. Appana’s wife/Ram’s mother Parvathy (played by Anjali) has a one-note role in the movie: nagging Ram to find a wife.

Ram’s love interest is Deepika (played by Kiara Advani), a medical doctor who is seen dancing more than doing actual work as a doctor. Charan and Advani do not have believable romantic chemistry as Ram and Deepika, so the love affair in “Game Changer” just falls flat. Ram also has a close friend named “Side” Satyam (played by Sunil), who is a fairly forgettable character.

The sound mixing in “Game Changer” is horrendous, with too many scenes that blare music and sound effects at extremely irritating levels. It’s an overly long movie that has choppy film editing in scenes that abruptly end and then incoherently go to the next scene. No amount of editing could erase all the garbage filmmaking that’s in “Game Changer,” which is a complete waste of time for anyone who watches this rotten spectacle.

Zee Studios released “Game Changer” in U.S. cinemas and in India on January 10, 2025.

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