Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has sparked a debate over the reported box office figures of Ram Charan’s latest film, Game Changer.
According to a report by Indian Express on Tuesday, Ram Gopal Verma questioned the authenticity of the producers’ claims, which suggest the film earned Rs186 crore on its opening day, January 10, while trade sources reported much lower figures, including Rs80 crore worldwide according to Sacnilk.
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Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Varma expressed his doubts, stating, “If Game Changer cost Rs450 crore, then RRR with its extraordinary visual appeal should have cost Rs4,500 crore. Similarly, if Game Changer collected Rs186 crore on its first day, Pushpa 2 should easily make Rs1,860 crore on day one.” He emphasized the need for believable box office numbers, criticizing the discrepancies as damaging to the credibility of South Indian cinema’s achievements.
If @ssrajamouli and @SukumarWritings sky rocketed telugu cinema in real time collections into a fantastically stratospheric heights thereby sending legitimate shock waves into Bollywood, the people behind G C succeeded in proving that the south is much more FANTASTIC in being a…
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) January 13, 2025
Varma, while absolving producer Dil Raju of any wrongdoing, speculated that someone else might be behind the alleged inflation of figures.
If G C costed some 450 cr then RRR in its extraordinary never before seen visual appeal should have costed 4500 cr and if G C film’s first day collections are 186 cr on day 1 , then PUSHPA 2 collections should have been 1,860 cr ..The point is that the fundamental requirement of…
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) January 13, 2025
He added that such claims undermine the success of landmark films like Baahubali, RRR, KGF 2, and Kantara, which raised the stature of Telugu and South Indian cinema on a global scale.
I loved PUSHPA 2 but now after seeing G C I want to fall on the feet of @alluarjun and @SukumarWritings ????????????
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) January 13, 2025
Directed by Shankar and starring Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, and SJ Suryah, Game Changer initially saw strong collections domestically but witnessed a sharp drop in performance after its first weekend. As of now, the political thriller’s domestic net collection stands at Rs97 crore, with a gross total of Rs105.7 crore over four days.
