Veteran filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has taken aim at the alleged box office figures of Ram Charan’s latest release, Game Changer. Raising doubts about the authenticity of the film’s reported collections, Varma claimed that the discrepancies undermine the credibility of South Indian cinema’s recent achievements.
On Monday evening, Varma took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his criticism. In a sarcastic tweet, he remarked, “If @ssrajamouli and @SukumarWritings skyrocketed Telugu cinema into real-time collections of fantastically stratospheric heights, sending legitimate shock waves into Bollywood, the people behind Game Changer succeeded in proving that the South is much more FANTASTIC in being a FRAUD.”
The filmmaker accused the team behind the movie of inflating box office numbers, stating, “I truly don’t know who’s behind this highly humiliating and disgraceful insult of undermining the extraordinary achievements of the South. Thanks to Baahubali, RRR, KGF 2, and Kantara, their achievements will now be in doubt because of Game Changer claims.”
Although he absolved producer Dil Raju of any wrongdoing, Varma questioned the source of the allegedly exaggerated numbers. “I don’t know who’s behind these unbelievably naive lies, but for sure it can’t be producer Dil Raju because he is a truly grounded realist and he’s incapable of the fraud that is being committed,” he added.
Discrepancies in Box Office Figures
The controversy stems from the film’s producers claiming that Game Changer earned ₹186 crore on its opening day, which would place it among the top four highest-opening Indian films alongside Pushpa 2, Baahubali 2, and RRR. However, trade analysts reported far lower figures, with Sacnilk estimating worldwide collections at just ₹80 crore.
Varma also raised questions about the film’s reported budget, stating in another tweet, “If Game Changer cost ₹450 crore, then RRR, with its extraordinary visual appeal, should have cost ₹4,500 crore. The fundamental requirement of TRUTH is that it should sound BELIEVABLE, and in the case of Game Changer, even the LIE should sound more BELIEVABLE.”
Directed by Shankar and starring Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, and SJ Suryah, the political thriller saw a strong domestic opening but has since witnessed a steep decline. After four days, the film is yet to cross ₹100 crore in domestic net collections.