For a film in which the leading man’s signature line is ‘I am unpredictable’, Game Changer feels as old as cinema itself. In fact, the plot of this film — stretching over an abominably long 165 minutes — is so stale that every second of it will remind you of some terrible movie you may have had the misfortune of sitting through in the past.

Game Changer is vintage Shankar, which is more of a bad than a good thing these days. The man who once gave us films like Gentleman and Anniyan, Enthiran and Indian, has been stuck in a creative rut, recently illustrated by the torture fest called Indian 2. Game Changer is a definite improvement over Indian 2 but that isn’t saying much about a film that relies on every overused trope in the masala movie book — physical (over) acting, grating background score, expensively-shot but totally unnecessary songs and a story that goes here, there, everywhere... and ultimately, nowhere.

Borrowing generously from his previous films, Shankar largely attempts a Nayak redux with Game Changer. Both are political thrillers tinged heavily with masala madness. Nayak, starring Anil Kapoor as a TV presenter who takes on a corrupt system when made chief minister for a day, had a wish-fulfillment theme that found resonance in a country not new to scams and scandals. In Game Changer, Shankar — aided by a script co-written by filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj — brings in Ram (played by Ram Charan) as an honest bureaucrat. When not pummeling the corrupt — Ram’s introduction scene has him jumping out of a train, tying a bunch of goons to the railway tracks and then jumping into a helicopter, leaning out of it to finally cut their snares and set them free — he is seen launching into one badly-scored and over-choreographed song after another (Thaman is credited with the music).

The first half of Game Changer is a hazy mixture of song ’n’ dance, over-the-top dialogues and a tepid romance between Ram and Deepika (Kiara Advani). While he aspires to be a police officer, she wants him to apply for the IAS. Reason? His anger issues. “IAS tumhare gusse ko gaurav mein badal dega,” she smiles in what is undoubtedly some terribly translated lines. For the record, Game Changer is Shankar’s first Telugu film.

A largely unremarkable first hour gives way to what is undoubtedly the most watchable bit of the film — a 20-minute flashback sequence post-interval which introduces upright tribal leader Appanna (Ram Charan in a double role) who pays the price for being honest, with the plot segueing into the present. When it does, Game Changer takes a few steps back and falls back into the predictable groove it had found itself in in Half One. Also, Shankar’s idea of distinguishing between the two Ram Charans is to give one of them a stammer. Well, he can’t really help it — the man already comes with a moustache!

It is, in fact, the RRR actor who carries the film on his shoulders and makes it semi-watchable. But that is not enough to rescue Game Changer from the mediocrity it exhibits in every department.

Thaman’s average music for this film includes a song named Dhop, picturised on Ram and Kiara in #ontrend dopamine outfits. If only Game Changer had been dubbed and released in Bangla — the title of this song would have summed up the whole film. Now pass the chop!