Game Changer Box Office Collections: Ram Charan and Shankar film underwhelms on first day in India

The film is carrying an astronomical budget, which demanded nothing less than a thunderous start—something Game Changer failed at and failed spectacularly.

By Jatinder Singh

Updated on Jan 11, 2025 | 02:05 PM IST | 14.3K

Ram Charan in Game Changer (image courtesy of AA Films)

Game Changer has a disappointing start at the Indian box office, collecting Rs. 60 crore approx on its first day. The disappointment here is in the context of it being a Telugu film, which are heavily frontloaded, otherwise, this first-day number would be considered good, even great for any other language film. On top of that, the film is carrying an astronomical budget, which demanded nothing less than a thunderous start—something Game Changer failed at and failed spectacularly.

The opening blues were across the board, with Coastal Andhra saving some face due to big early morning fan shows but even here it can be said below par with occupancies of less than 50 per cent in regular shows. The first day in Telugu states barely crossed Rs. 40 crore, a far cry from the Rs. 60-65 crore it should have targetted.

The big disappointment also came in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where director Shankar holds a stellar record. Although, that track record has been charred recently but even the underperforming Indian 2 managed some start but Game Changer simply catapulted with less than Rs. 3 crore coming from the two states. Ten years ago, another Shankar film, I managed that much in just Kerala, which was a much smaller initial market back then versus what it is today. There is a Pre-Pongal factor in play when business is slow in Tamil Nadu, but nothing excuses this sort of start.

Funnily enough, it is the Hindi version that can be called as the best performer with Rs. 7 crore NETT first day but less said about that is better because the numbers are an open joke. There is a popular Hindi saying, “aate mein namak chalta hai” (a little salt blends well with flour) but here the salt is probably more than flour.

The First Day Box Office Collections of Game Changer in India are as follows:

Area	Gross
AP/TS	Rs. 43.00 cr.
Nizam	Rs. 15.00 cr.
Ceded	Rs. 7.50 cr.
Andhra	Rs. 20.50 cr.
Karnataka	Rs. 4.25 cr.
Tamil Nadu	Rs. 2.50 cr.
Kerala	Rs. 0.25 cr.
Rest of India	Rs. 10.00 cr.

INDIA	Rs. 60.00 cr.