Curious case of 'Game Changer' box office: Fraud claims emerge
What's the story
The Telugu film industry is currently mired in a controversy over the alleged box office collections of Ram Charan's latest release, Game Changer.
The film, which was released on January 10, was helmed by Shankar and marked his Telugu cinema debut.
Despite the film's producers claiming it opened to the fourth-highest opening in Indian cinema history, trade sources indicate it didn't even breach the ₹100 crore mark.
Disputed figures
'Game Changer' claimed ₹186 crore on opening day
Adding fuel to the fire, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma publicly criticized the reported box office numbers of Game Changer, labeling them as fraudulent.
He argued that such alleged inflation was an insult to the entire Telugu film industry.
His sentiments were echoed by trade insiders from southern India who also questioned the authenticity of these figures, as per HT.
Earnings discrepancy
'Game Changer' earnings: What the film claimed vs reality
On January 11, Game Changer's official X (formerly Twitter) account announced that the film had grossed ₹186 crore worldwide on day one.
However, trade tracker Sacnilk reported that the film had only earned ₹80 crore globally on day one, less than half of what was claimed by the film's team.
Considering Game Changer netted ₹51 crore in India on day one, it seems highly unlikely it could've grossed ₹186 crore worldwide.
Public criticism
Varma's sarcastic critique of 'Game Changer' box office claims
Varma took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday evening to express his skepticism over the film's box office collections.
Sarcastically praising the film for proving that "the south is much more FANTASTIC in being a FRAUD," the filmmaker also expressed concern that such claims could undermine the achievements of other successful South Indian films like Baahubali, RRR, KGF 2, and Kantara.
Industry fallout
'Game Changer' team might have taken things 'too far'
Trade analysts and distributors from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have echoed Varma's criticism to HT.
An anonymous distributor called it "a gross inflation of ₹100 crore in a day," which they feel hurts the credibility of the business.
Film trade analyst Ramesh Bala said, "Everyone exaggerates box office collections to an extent. But I think these guys took it a bit too far this time."
Performance decline
'Game Changer' box office performance: A downward trend
After its first claim of a ₹186 crore opening, the film's official account has not updated its worldwide box office collections.
By day three, Sacnilk reported the figure was ₹130 crore, still lesser than the producers' day one claims.
Trade sources say Game Changer has been declining in earnings since its first Monday and is unlikely to pick up due to competition from new releases in Tamil and Telugu states.