Ram Charan's Game Changer was supposed to be like Rajkummar Rao's Newton, reveals Karthik Subbaraj about his story for Shankar film

Tamil filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj penned the story for Shankar's Ram Charan and Kiara Advani-starrer Game Changer which failed to make a mark.

One of the most shocking disappointments in recent times has to be Shankar’s Telugu film Game Changer, which starred Ram Charan and Kiara Advani in lead roles. The movie, which received lukewarm reviews, left many confused, given that Karthik Subbaraj, of Jigarthanda fame, was credited with the story. At a masterclass held by Student Tribe, the Tamil filmmaker revealed that the story he penned for Shankar was more like the Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton. But it changed due to Ram and Shankar’s involvement in the project.

Rajkummar Rao and Ram Charan in stills from Newton and Game Changer.

Karthik Subbaraj reveals Game Changer was supposed to be like Newton

At the masterclass, a student remarked that through the years, Karthik has come to be known for his dark humour and unique themes, something that was missing in Game Changer. He replied, “The thing is that I had a story, and I gave that story to Shankar sir. Shankar sir asked if I can also write a screenplay and give. But that time, I was actually in the pre-production of Mahaan. The story I gave…it’s about an IAS officer trying to change the system through officers and all that. That was more of a different setup, like a reality setup. It’s more, like say, if you’ve seen, in Hindi there’s about an election officer going to a village. Like Newton, but little bit more of an action thing.”

Explaining that Game Changer was not as indie as Newton, Karthik added that it was still supposed to be in the same vein. “It’s not as indie as Newton, but still in the reality of that space. It also had a gangster element in it. I wrote it in Tamil, so it’s about a person from Madurai. But, I think when it’s doing with a big star, with a big budget, like say, Ram Charan sir, I think the entire story dynamics changed. But I’m still always happy that somebody legendary like Shankar sir is taking our story and he’s doing it,” he claimed.

About Newton and Game Changer

Newton, released in 2017, is a black comedy co-written and directed by Amit V. Masurkar. Starring Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil and Raghubir Yadav, it tells the story of a government official sent to a politically sensitive area to serve election duty. It shows his struggles to ensure that everyone in the area can exercise their democratic right to vote. The film was critically acclaimed and collected ₹28.35 crore worldwide, according to the trade website Sacnilk.

Game Changer, released in 2025, is a political action drama directed by Shankar and written by Karthik. Starring Ram, Kiara, Anjali, SJ Suryah, Srikanth, Sunil, Jayaram and Samuthirakani, it tells the story of a government official who relentlessly fights against corruption in the system. Determined to hold fair elections, he tries to change the way everything operates. The film was panned by audiences and critics upon release and went on to collect ₹186.25 crore worldwide at the box office.