Overview, Game Changer: The Collector, his sideways sidekick, the CM and the game of musical chairs

It used to be ‘the end justifies the means’, and the end was always the turnstiles. So, the end was always the same, only the means, or the ways of getting there, were different. Then it became ‘the means are the same, since the end is the same’. So we had similarity in approach too, with only a semblance of difference. Finally, we have reached a stage where ‘the travelers, the roads and the destinations’ are all the same. Of course they are not stencil or photo-copies, since no two pictures, clicked with different cameras, are totally identical. But how much of repetition, with only superficial dissimilarities, can one digest? Game Changer makes you wonder, and rack your brains, after lulling all the grey matter into general anaesthesia.

Our country ranks high on corruption indices, a fact that we cannot ignore. If we can manage to free its shackles of corruption, even in some of areas, it can progress towards a haven of honest office bearers, administrators, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive (agencies like the police). That is a given. Few will dare to deny this undeniable fact. Yet, it remains a distant dream. Corruption has seethed so deep down into our systems that getting rid of it remains a near impossible prospect. We face it everywhere, and every day. So, is escape the answer? Get rid of it in the mass media. Showcase a state in India, where dualities exist, of corruption and honesty, causing conflict. Corruption is in an overwhelming majority, while honest is in a hopeless minority. And then weave a tale wherein the one good men, or a few good men, take on the titanic opposition, and come out in flying colours. Corruption eliminated in at least one Indian state, on the screen, miniature or widescreen. In three hours or thereabouts. Only to be reborn in another avtaar, the next Friday morning, only to be eliminated in under three hours once again, only to be reborn again. And against the seven rebirths postulated by mythology, it is reborn and re-eliminated not 7 times but 700 times. And the figure keeps growing.

An honest Chief Minister with corrupt ministers. A corrupt CM with an honest Minister. An honest administrator and corrupt officials. A corrupt Administrator and an honest official. An honest judge with a corrupt bench. A corrupt Judge with an honest Colleague. An honest police chief with a corrupt force. A corrupt Chief with an honest subordinate. An honest leader with corrupt followers. A corrupt Leader with an honest Sub-ordinate. The game is so simple. The corrupt have a retinue of hundreds of enforcers, while the honest have to fight their own battle usually alone, albeit gifted with the ability to take on a fully armed platoon with often just bare hands. So, is there any need for a Game Changer? The Game is never changed, only a few moves are. For the rest, it is recycling of cinematic resources, as interpreted by different players. The game is just the same. And it is not cricket.

I had occasion to witness this game played by the same rules in a film called Game Changer, Telugu-language, dubbed in Hindi. It has been described as a political action film, which is fair enough description. Directed by S. Shankar, in his Telugu debut, and stars Ram Charan, of RRR fame, in dual roles, alongside Kiara Advani, Anjali, S. J. Suryah, Srikanth, Sunil, Jayaram and Samuthirakani. The film has music composed by Thaman S., cinematography by Tirru and editing by Shameer Muhammed and Ruben.

Ram Charan is named Ram Nandan in the film, and he plays an Indian Police Service officer, who graduates to an Indian Administrative Service collector, IPS to IAS. He has an orderly (peon), who is both a comedian and a pillar of strength to the Collector and District Magistrate of a city in Andhra Pradesh. This orderly was born sideways, and, as a result, is able to move only sideways. While crossing the road, he catches the eye of a medical student, Deepika, because his sideways movement suggests to her that he is ogling at her cleavage. He is beaten black and blue, and is rescued in the nick of time, after it is established that he did not stare at her exposed skin for much longer than is legally permissible for a law-abiding citizen to do so.

There is a Chief Minister, who suddenly decides that, during his last 12 months in office, he will cleanse his state of corrupt elements and criminals, incurring the wrath of his own son, who is apparently the ringleader of the tribe. Co-incidentally, he suffers a heart-attack, and land in an ICU, where his son, who is denied the succession to the post, should the father kick the bucket, slams his fist hard a couple of times on his own father, to end all his designs to side-line the CM in waiting. One thought that blows on the chest can revive a dead person’s heart-beat, but let the Indian Medical Association decide that. Assuming the post of Chief Minister, he basks in the glory, till the others he has by-passed, including his own elder brother, realise that this game of musical chairs is rigged. Meanwhile, Mr. IAS officer unleashes various clauses in the laws of the state to put paid to his designs. He also battles brigades to fend off attacks on him, as he is a Super-Man in Clark (IAS) Kent officer’s garb. When unleashed, his anger knows no bounds, and he is also a master of legal tactics, which can put some of the best lawyers of the land to shame. The only person who can prevail on him to resort to anger management (read dance and funny moves) is doctor wannabe Deepika.

One cannot deny that the Visual Effects (VFX) are top grade and very creatively used. Dances and songs are dazzling and scintillating. But every opponent of Ram Nandan has to take flight when a blow lands on him. Every goon and heavy takes the aerial route, once he comes in the vicinity of Ram Nandan, helping him purge his district of every rogue element. Somewhere along the line, the name of the state is officially replaced by Uttar Pradesh, though the characters and locales all retain the Andhra Pradesh shades and language. So, we now have to guess who will win this game of Honest Superman Collector Magistrate v/s Corrupt Human Criminals and Contractors. And if you think it will the latter, this is probably the first such film you are watching.

There is nothing to suggest that such films will cease to be made. On the contrary, the moolah amassed by each such outing extends the list of hopefuls who want to rush in to rake in the rupees. With a legacy of hundreds preceding them, such movies will have to be judged in context, and the grade they cut will reflect how much of Game Changers they have been. This one is not a Game Changer at all. But, to be fair, it cannot be condemned only because it is similar to its less than illustrious predecessors. Perhaps it is time to play different games. ‘Based on true events’ films have moved from cricket, to football, to hockey to running, to more games. Yet, the ‘political action’ film remains more of the same. With box-office collections crossing the Rs. 1,000 crore mark by some distance, who is complaining? The critics!

Trailer: https://youtu.be/QSu9-DBjMPI