Game Changer is an upcoming Indian Telugu-language political action drama film written and directed by S. Shankar, based on a story written by Karthik Subbaraj. Produced by Sri Venkateswara Creations and Zee Studios, the film stars Ram Charan, alongside Kiara Advani, Anjali, Samuthirakani, S. J. Suryah, Srikanth, Prakash Raj and Sunil.
| Game Changer | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | S. Shankar |
| Screenplay by | S. Shankar |
| Dialogues by | Sai Madhav Burra |
| Story by | Karthik Subbaraj |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tirru |
| Edited by | Shameer Muhammed |
| Music by | S. Thaman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | AA Films (North India) Phars Film (International) |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | est. ₹200–400 crore[1][2] |
Principal photography commenced in October 2021 and concluded in July 2024 after several delays. Filming locations included Hyderabad, New Zealand, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, and Chandigarh. The film has music composed by Thaman S, cinematography handled by Tirru and editing by Shameer Muhammed.
It is scheduled to release on 10 January 2025, coinciding with Sankranti.
Premise
Ram Nandan, an IAS officer strives to combat corrupt politicians by advocating for fair elections to transform the workings ways of the government.[3]
Cast
Production
Development
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.[4] 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.[5] The film's official title, Game Changer, was announced on 27 March 2023, on the occasion of Charan's birthday.[6] Shankar initially estimated the production cost at ₹250 crore (US$30 million). However, by July 2024, reports indicated that the budget had risen to ₹400 crore (US$48 million),[2] though The Times of India in the same month estimated it at ₹200 crore (US$24 million).[1]
Pre-production
Director Karthik Subbaraj wrote the film's original story with Shankar writing the screenplay.[7] Sai Madhav Burra contributed to the dialogues.[8] Tirru was signed on as the cinematographer, marking his maiden collaboration with Shankar.[9] The remaining technical team of the film consisted of editor Shameer Muhammed,[10] action choreographer duo Anbariv, and art director Avinash Kolla.[11] Thaman S would score the music in his first collaboration with Shankar as music director.[12] Dance choreographers of the film include Jani Master, Prem Rakshith, Prabhu Deva, Bosco Martis, Ganesh Acharya, and Sandy Master.[11]
Casting
Charan reportedly plays a dual role as a father and son.[13] 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.[14] Anjali was cast in a pivotal role, while Sunil, Srikanth, Jayaram, and Naveen Chandra were all confirmed to be a part of the film.[15] S. J. Suryah was confirmed to be part of the film in September 2022.[16]
Filming
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.[17][18]
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.[19] 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.[20] The Times of India reported that nearly ₹23 crore (US$2.8 million) was spent on the song.[21] 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.[22]
The third schedule for the film commenced in February 2022.[23] 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.[24][25] 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,[26] would take place after wrapping up the film shoot.[27] 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.[28][29] For undisclosed reasons, R. Rathnavelu joined the unit in Amritsar to complete the remaining portions in place of Tirru.[30] In May, the crew shot a schedule in Visakhapatnam.[31]
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.[32] [33] In August, Shankar confirmed that he would be shooting both Game Changer and Indian 2, simultaneously.[34] The filming was planned to resume in early September in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.[34] 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.[33]
In February 2023, filming resumed with a few scenes shot at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, Visakhapatnam, followed by Simhachalam and Charminar.[35][36] A few pictures of scenes from the set were leaked online during the filming at the university.[37] In March 2023, a song involving 100 dancers, choreographed by Prabhu Deva, was shot.[38] In April 2023, Shankar revealed that he would be shooting the climactic scenes soon.[39] On 26 April 2023, filming of the climactic scenes started under the supervision of Anbariv, in a special set in Shamshabad.[40] Charan shot high combat scenes with 1200 fighters for the same.[41] On 9 May, filming of the climax was wrapped.[42] In July, an action sequence choreographed by Peter Hein was wrapped in Hyderabad.[43] Mysore schedule was started on 23 November,[44] and was wrapped early December.[45] In late December, a short schedule in Hyderabad, featuring Srikanth, Samuthirakani, S. J. Suryah, and others was wrapped up.[46] The final schedule was completed in July 2024.[47]
Music
| Game Changer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2024 | |||
| Recorded | 2021–2024 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Telugu | |||
| Label | Saregama | |||
| Producer | Thaman S. | |||
| Thaman S. chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Game Changer | ||||
| ||||
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).[48] 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.[49] The audio rights for the film were acquired by Saregama.[50]
The song "Jaragandi" was leaked online in September 2023, which was reportedly made on a budget of ₹15 crore.[51] Later, the makers announced the song as the first single which would be released on Diwali 2023.[52] However, the highly negative response from the audience prompted Thaman to change the singers, delaying the official release of the song.[53][54] It released on 27 March 2024, on the occasion of Charan's 39th birthday to mixed reviews criticizing it's composition.[55] The second single titled "Raa Macha Macha" was released on 30 September 2024.[56]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jaragandi" | Anantha Sriram | Daler Mehndi, Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:20 |
| 2. | "Raa Macha Macha" | Anantha Sriram | Nakash Aziz | 4:32 |
Release
Theatrical
Game Changer is scheduled to release on 10 January 2025, coinciding Sankranti.[57] Previously, the film was announced to release on Christmas 2024, but due to unfinished post-production work it was eventually postponed.[58][59]
Distribution
Zee Studios initially bought the distribution rights of the film for ₹50 crore.[60] But in April 2024, it was revealed that AA Films is also involved on distributing the film in North India.[61]
Home media
The digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by Amazon Prime Video for ₹105 crore and satellite rights have been acquired by Zee Telugu.[62]
References
External links
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