‘Game Changer’ Producer Shirish Reddy Thought 'Life Was Over’ After Its Flop; Later Apologises For Comment
The producer said no one from the film’s team, especially Ram Charan or director Shankar, called to check on them after the film’s failure.
In a recent interview, producer Shirish Reddy, Dil Raju’s cousin brother, discussed the damage caused to their morale after the failure of Shankar’s Game Changer, which was released during Sankranthi this year
In an interview with Great Andhra, he spoke about the inherent risks of making a movie in the volatile business. He was quoted as saying, “Look at Sankranthiki Vasthunam and Game Changer (both films produced by his company). With Game Changer, we thought our lives were over. We got hope from Sankranthiki Vasthunam. Our lives changed within four days. If we didn’t have that, think of what would have happened to us now.”
He also said, “When it (Game Changer) flopped, did the hero help us? Did the director come to help us? No one even asked us how we were doing out of courtesy. I am not blaming anyone because we made the film out of our wish, and we faced losses. We have not come down to the stage of asking back remuneration,” he said.
Soon after his comments blew up on the Internet, Reddy was at the receiving end of backlash from Ram Charan fans for blaming the actor. The producer later tendered an apology note, according to reports. "My words have hurt fans badly. Ram Charan allocated his time for Game Changer, and he is dedicated to the project. We share a great bond with Megastar Chiranjeevi garu and his family from the past few years, and we have never spoken against any hero. I apologise if my words have hurt anyone," he was quoted as saying.
In another interview, Dil Raju clarified his cousin's comments. "It was Shirish’s first interview. He lacks experience in handling such interactions. He spoke from a distributor’s point of view, and his words were taken out of context by the media and fans,” he said.
Dil Raju added added that they carry the guilt that Game Changer didn’t live up to expectations. "We will soon fulfil that by doing a film with Ram Charan. Plans are already in place, and an official announcement will be made soon.”
This is among the many criticisms that have popped up about the film’s result. A month ago, the film’s editor in an interview had cited director Shankar’s lack of professionalism and his habit of not showing up for editing sessions. Shameer revealed that the first cut of the movie was 7.5 hours long, which he trimmed to 3 hours before leaving the project. Another editor had to take over and edit the film to its present length.
Thaman, the music director of Game Changer, too had spoken about why the film’s songs did not amass significant viewership on YouTube. In his interview with THR India, he said, “See we’re all trying to make hit songs, but we have to trust the melody. I can pull off a song that will generate between 50 to 100 million views. But after that, it depends on the song’s hook step. I missed out on that for the songs of Game Changer. None of the songs in it had a proper hook step.”